


Miss Danvers and Lena Luthor

by Imfindinggwonderland



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kara Danvers Has a Crush on Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Has a Crush on Kara Danvers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 70,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22482388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imfindinggwonderland/pseuds/Imfindinggwonderland
Summary: Lena Luthor is pretty much in her own little world that consists of L-Corp and her 6 year old daughter, Marley. When Marley is put into Miss Danvers class, it leads to Lena's world expanding... by a lot.Also...Lena and Kara catch feelings quick, but it'll be a slow burn BECAUSEwhat is up with Marley Luthor and why was she able to hear Miss Danvers conversation about Marley from the other side of the room?
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 369
Kudos: 1305





	1. Marley Luthor

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for at least a year now but I haven't been committed because I've never posted it. I don't have much done of this fic but I'm hoping that getting the first chapter out there will inspire me to write more :)

Lena looks at the small elementary school building and sighs. She is hand and hand with her daughter, who is starting the first grade today. Marley's nervous excitement is infectious, but unfortunately for Lena she seems to only be feeling the nervous part of it. She's reluctant to take her daughter inside the building because this is  _ first grade.  _ She had done preschool and, of course, kindergarten, but this is somehow different for Lena. It's grade school. Soon she will be dropping her daughter off at the doors of a big high school, not allowed to walk her in like she can now. It's not the only reason Marley and Lena have been standing by their car hesitantly (well, Lena is the only one being hesitant. Marley is buzzing with so much excitement Lena thinks she might actually explode). When Lillian, who has never actually met Marley, by the way, found out that Lena had enrolled her daughter in public school she was infuriated.    
  
_ "Are you trying to raise an uneducated child, Lena? She will never get into Harvard or Yale after going to a public school!" _ Lillian said those words with such disgust that Lena had to hang up the phone. She wasn't willing to fight her mother on this.   
  
However, Lena can't help but doubt her decision. What if public school isn't right for Marley? What if she really doesn't get a good education and it is all Lena's fault? She can't stand the possibility that her daughter might not succeed in life due to her actions as a parent.    
  
Lena hastily turns around opening the car door, "Marley get in the car we are going home." The large grin immediately falls from Marley’s face, her cheeks, still clad with baby fat and innocence, droop with a frown. "Why? I want to go to school!" There's a slight whine to her voice and Lena is unsure whether she should scold it or not. As a child she would have been without a doubt, but she knows better than to reference her childhood when it comes to raising her own child. She goes with the latter, not scolding her daughter for simply being disappointed. Instead, she decides to be honest. Not too honest of course, she can't mention Lillian because Marley is completely unaware of her grandmother's existence and Lena prefers to keep it that way.    
  
"I don't think this school is the right fit for you, sweetie," Lena smiles sadly, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder and lightly pushing her into the black SUV.    
  
"Won't Mrs.Danvers wonder where I am?" Marley pouts from the backseat when Lena gets into the car. 

"Mrs.Danvers has plenty of other children to look after, Marley, I'm sure she will be okay."   
  
Lena takes Marley to IHOP for breakfast that morning. It's Marley's favorite place to eat, but her disappointed pout still doesn't break even when Lena allows her to eat six pancakes, two more than she would usually allow her to eat. 

  
Hours later, after arriving back to the penthouse, Lena sighs, noticing that her daughter's mood had yet to change.    
  
"You're really upset about not going to school, huh?" Lena asks, sitting on the couch and patting the cushion beside her. Marley sits next to Lena and glares at her. "I just don't think it's the right fit for you, Marl."    
  
Marley groans and gets off the couch. She returns to the living room moments later with a bright pink paper in her hand. "Mrs. Danvers class was going to be so much fun, Momma! It says we are going to practice reading and writing and math and I already know that! It would have been easy!"    
  
"I think it's better that you have something that challenges you a little more," Lena replies. She kisses her daughter's forehead before exiting the living room and heading towards her office where she makes a few phone calls that she had been putting off to spend time with Marley. After making the phone calls, Lena decides to fill out a bit of paperwork too, but it isn’t long before she can hear Marley moping around the penthouse being  _ extra _ loud. The TV had been switched on and off a total of six times and it seems like Marley had trudged back in forth between her bedroom and the living room every five minutes since Lena had been in her office.

It’s while Lena is making dinner that her personal phone goes off. Lena’s hands are covered in flour, but she quickly cleans them off, curious as to what the notification on her phone could be. She is used to her work phone going off at all hours, but her personal phone usually didn’t go off at all. She only really spent time with Marley and she was far too young to have a phone. 

It’s an email and Lena rolls her eyes, almost not bothering with it, but she looks anyway because she had washed her hands. 

**_From:_ ** **_kdanvers@ncsd.net_ ** ****

**_Subject: First Day of First Grade_ **

**_Hello!_ **

**_I missed having Marley in class today! Today was the day students typically spend getting to know their teachers, but if you want to bring Marley in an hour early tomorrow I would be glad to summarize the day for her and hopefully make her more comfortable for the school year! I also enjoy meeting my students parents so I can put faces to names! :)_ **

**_I hope nothing too extreme caused Marley to miss school and I hope to see her tomorrow!_ **

**_Regards,_ **

**_Kara Danvers._ ** **  
  
**

Lena can’t do anything but blink at the email. There wasn’t one teacher that Lena had as a child that she remembered taking an interest in her, but this teacher,  _ Marley’s teacher,  _ was emailing her about her child when they hadn’t even met yet. Lena wondered for a moment if this had anything to do with her last name. Maybe the teacher is an avid Lex follower that wanted to get to him through Lena. God knows there are plenty of those. She quickly shakes that thought off though. She had done everything to separate herself from her family name. Between moving to National City and changing LuthorCorp to L-Corp, the only other thing she could do is change her last name, and of course, she had tried. 

She thought about her possible reply while continuing to cook. Do you even reply to an email like that? To a teacher? She guesses you do, as you would with any professional person, but how will she explain to the teacher that she didn’t take Marley to her class today because she feared her teaching wouldn’t be good enough for her child? She sighs, remembering her own childhood education. 

_ “Your mother and I have decided to send you to a school where you can really excel, Lena. You will start after Christmas!” Lionel says cheerfully. Lena, only eleven at the time, looked to Lex confused. He shrugs. _

_ “Oh, don’t beat around the bush Lionel, she has to know at some point. We are sending you to a school in Ireland. You will have a much better education there. Now, what do you say, dear?”  _

_ “When?” Lena asks, her eyes wide.  _

_ “The twenty-sixth,” Lionel replies and Lillian scoffs.  _

_ “What do you say, Lena?” She asks again.  _

_ Lena gulps, “Thank you, Mother.”  _

Lena remembers how she had no say about her education and she knows now that if she had the choice, she would have never chosen to go to boarding school. Not at eleven anyway, when she still had hope that her mother loved her. 

But this isn’t boarding school she is considering for Marley. She isn’t making the choice to send Marley to another continent, she is just trying to make sure she has the best education possible. Besides, does Marley even know what's best for her at six? She decides to talk to Marley about it over dinner anyway. In the meantime, she sends a quick reply to her teacher voicing her concerns in the most polite way possible. Not at all like a Luthor. 

_ To:  _ _ kdanvers@ncsd.net _ __

_ Subject: First Day of First Grade  _

_ Hello.  _

_ Thank you for emailing me about Marley. I began having some concerns about the education she might receive at Central Elementary School. I have very little experience with public schools so you can see why I might be hesitant. However, Marley was very excited to go to school, to your class specifically. I am looking at my options and if I find that Central Elementary School is the best one for Marley, I will ensure her attendance daily.  _

_ Lena Luthor  _

It’s less than five minutes when Lena’s phone goes off again. 

_ From:  _ _ kdanvers@ncsd.net _ __

_ Subject: First Day of First Grade  _

_ Please let her come! For one day and you can even sit in and watch to see if you like it. I know that public schools are underfunded, but I do my best to make do with what I have and the kids are always learning. I hope to see Marley and you tomorrow morning, Mrs. Luthor.  _

_ Kara Danvers  _

_ P.S. SHE WILL HAVE THE BEST TIME!  _

Lena can’t help but chuckle at the unprofessional email, realizing that there is no way this teacher is any older than her, probably younger even. She considers taking Marley to the school the next day just to meet this Kara Danvers.

At dinner, Lena and Marley sit across from each other in their usual spots. Marley picks at her food, which is quite unusual for her. Lena is used to her going back for seconds by this point. 

“We could try out the elementary school at Smythe Academy,” Lena suggests. Marley’s face scrunches up and she drops her fork on her plate. “Pumpkin, you did preschool and kindergarten there. I know their students get a good education.” 

“Smythe Academy is boring, Momma. We can never talk and we don’t even get recess! I want to go to a real school like the ones on TV.” 

“I don’t think even Mrs. Danvers class will be like the ones you see on television,” Lena says, though she isn’t really sure because how would she know?

“Mrs. Danvers is already my teacher,” Marley states. She's right. Lena had known that since June. She was the one who had gotten Marley excited to be in Mrs. Danvers class. Lena hated letting Marley down. She didn’t want her to feel that feeling, like she did so many times in her childhood. 

“One semester,” Lena breaks. “One semester in Mrs.Danvers class and then we will enroll you somewhere else. If you fall behind we will get you a tutor.” 

With that, Marley’s grin from that morning reappears and apparently her appetite does as well because it’s not long before she is shoveling her food into her mouth and taking her plate back to the kitchen for seconds and thirds. 

Lena remembers nearly six years ago how different things were. She had just moved to National City and she was finally starting to be treated as a normal human. People didn’t avoid her like the plague when she walked by and she had a good reputation. For the first time ever, a Luthor had a good reputation somewhere. 

Of course there were the little things. Magazine articles printed about how she only wanted the Luthor’s money and that’s why she took over LuthorCorp. There was even an article about her trying to get her last name changed. She had no idea how that got leaked, but it did, and it was a disaster. Her father called her then and had plenty to say, but he was mostly understanding. It was then that she found out that she is a Luthor. Not just adopted, but a  _ real  _ Luthor. To this day she isn’t sure if that makes her happy or upset. 

It was a random day in December that changed everything. December 13th to be exact. It was nearly one in the morning when Lena had finally decided to head home from the L-Corp office. In the beginning she always had so much to do. Even with Jess taking on a quarter of the workload, Lena often stayed the night at L-Corp. For some reason she decided to go home that night. She needed a shower and sleep in a real bed for once, she deserved that, she thought. When she stepped outside of her office, though, she nearly tripped over something. She turned on a light, hoping it wasn’t a bomb or something, but what she saw was not anything dangerous. There was a box, a pink blanket over top of it. Immediately she thought they were kittens or puppies. It wasn’t the first time someone had left them at L-Corp, knowing they would find good homes. Lena kneeled down and pulled the blanket from the box.

It wasn’t that she hated babies or feared them really, but she jumped back colliding with her office door upon seeing a small,  _ human,  _ face stare up at her. She wasn't expecting a baby to smile at her when she looked into the box. A kitten she can do. A puppy? Sure. But a baby? She wasn’t sure she had ever even been within twelve feet of a baby. 

“Shit,” She mumbled. She picked up the note that was folded up beside the child. It read: 

_ Lena Luthor,  _

_ Her name is Marley. She just turned seven months old on the 7th of December. I can’t take care of her anymore. I’m going to be deported in a few days and I want Marley to have a good life here. Somewhere where she can make it with someone who will make that possible. You. I sent a package to your home containing everything she owns. It isn’t much, I’m sorry. Please raise her right for me.  _

“No, no, no, no,” Lena paced the lobby frantically. There were other papers. Adoption papers. All Lena had to do was sign to make it official, but she couldn’t possibly take care of a child. She looked back to the baby. She was cute, Lena would admit that. She had a pile of curly blonde hair on her head and her blue eyes shone like the ocean. At the eye contact, Marley screeches happily, reaching her arms out for Lena. Hesitantly, Lena picked her up and as soon as she did she knew it was meant to be.

The next day Lena and Marley are back in front of Central Elementary School, except today there are no other kids in sight and only two other cars. Lena briefly wonders which one is Kara Danvers. The black truck or the blue volkswagen beetle? 

“Momma we are actually walking in!” Marley shouts excitedly. 

Lena chuckles, but puts on her parent voice, “Keep your voice down, Marley.” 

When they enter the school Lena is shocked at how small everything is. Even the ceilings seemed lower than a normal building. Lena remembers her elementary school and how everything felt so big and intimidating. So cold and uninviting. She shutters at the thought. Maybe this is better for Marley. 

“123, 125,” Marley counts the numbers, skipping through the hallway, her hand barely holding onto Lena’s. “Why do the numbers skip?” She asks loudly, looking at Lena. 

“Even numbers are on that side and odds are on this side,” A voice says. Lena looks up from Marley to the source of the voice; a woman with blonde hair and a radiating smile. It’s almost like she contains the sun itself, Lena thinks for a moment. “You must be Marley!” 

Marley nods. She releases Lena’s hand completely running and hugging the woman, “Are you Mrs. Danvers?” 

The woman laughs, “I guess I am! But just call me Miss K. It’s easier.” 

“Not misses?” Lena asks, “I just assumed you were married so-” 

“Me? Married?” She laughs again, almost flustered, “Not a chance. I’m single as can be.” 

Lena raises an eyebrow in amusement and the teacher turns bright red. 

“Sorry! It probably wasn’t professional to say that. It’s my first year, I’m still getting the hang of things. Please come into the classroom!” 

Lena walks behind Marley and  _ Miss K,  _ following them into the classroom. Lena looks around, noting how much different this classroom is to the ones she had seen in her childhood. There are bright colors plastered on every wall. Toys and games scattered on different shelves. Books, bean bag chairs. Everything Lena thought didn't belong in the classroom. Or maybe it was Lillian who thought that. There were times she still had trouble deciphering her own thoughts from her mothers. 

“So it's your first year teaching, Miss Danvers?” Lena asks.

“Oh, you can call me Kara. I mean only if you want! I understand if you find it unprofessional, but I normally have my students parents call me Kara. It just seems like it makes it easier to communicate with them, you know? I mean you guys are my peers so it just seems natural that you-” 

“Kara. Got it.” Lena smirks. Kara’s cheeks are red again and she quickly diverts her attention to Marley. 

“Yesterday I had all of the students design their own name tags for their desks,” She hands Marley a piece of paper and crayons, “Do you know how to write your name?” 

“Momma taught me cursive at the beginning of kindergarten!” Marley flashes her a smile. 

Kara looks impressed, “Wow! Well, maybe just print your name so the others can read it, okay? You can look at everyone else's name tags to get ideas, too!”

“Thank you Miss K!” Marley hugs her again before taking a seat at a desk. 

“I was hoping we could discuss the semester syllabus,” Lena says to Kara, taking a seat in the chair in front of her desk. 

“Syllabus? Oh! Right syllabus,” Kara says, sitting in her desk chair. “See I don't really have a syllabus, Miss Luthor. I plan on challenging each kid individually and teaching what is right for them as a whole. I hope that doesn’t concern you too much.”

“No, no.” Lena smiles one of those Lillian smiles, the ones that even the other person knows are fake. “It will be interesting to see how that plays out. I’ll get Marley a tutor if necessary.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem Miss Luthor. I will ensure Marley is challenged even if she is the smartest child in the class.” 

“Oh she is. And please, call me Lena.” 

“Lena,” Kara rolls the name in her mouth almost causing Lena to turn red. “Well, Lena, tomorrow I will be giving the kids a pretest and splitting them into groups based on their scores. That way I can make sure each child is getting the challenge they need.” 

“And what happens when my child tests higher than everyone else?” 

“No offense to you or Marley, but some of these kids seem pretty smart. I doubt Marley will have to be in a group all alone.” 

“Marl, what's 122 times 34?” Lena asks. 

Marley continues coloring and without skipping a beat, she replies, “4,148.” 

Kara’s eyes are wide and Lena leans in closer to her, “Marley has been reading since she was two. She finished the fourth Harry Potter book last week. I taught her long division on her fourth birthday. Tell me, are there any other kids in this class that you think could match her intelligence level?” 

Kara licks her lips, clearly intimidated by Lena, “Maybe not completely, but there is one little girl who I think would challenge Marley really well. She needs some healthy competition to push her; they both do. If you think having Marley skip grades or go to some prestigious private school where everyone is like her is a good idea, you’re wrong. She would be challenged, sure, but what about her socially, Miss Luthor?” 

Lena raises an eyebrow, “I don’t follow. She's fine socially.” 

“Miss Luthor, I don’t mean to pry, but how many children her own age does Marley know?” 

“The kids from her kindergarten class.” 

“And how does she interact with them?” 

Lena sighs, “She doesn’t. She preferred the teachers company.” 

Kara nods. “I am here, not only to teach your child things like math and science, but also how to socialize correctly with her peers. That's a life skill she will always need. She may not ever need to know the chemistry she will learn in high school, but the social skills she will learn while being there? It’s the most important thing you learn in school.”

“You’re passionate. I like that,” Lena says, causing Kara to fidget with her glasses. “I told Marley we would try one semester. I’ll make my decision after that.”

“You won’t regret it,” Kara grins. “I think Marley will really enjoy the class! And I hope to get to know you too! As the parent of my student of course! I mean, what other way would I mean that? It would be completely unprofessional otherwise and trust me, I am very professional, I promise. Nothing unprofessional about me at all.”

“Your tendency to stumble over your words does have me wondering about your capabilities to teach a classroom of twenty-four six year olds, but other than that, I’m sure your level of professionalism is out of this world.” 

“I can manage with the kids. It’s some of their parents who are incredibly attr-,” Kara freezes, quickly catching herself, “Intimidating. Incredibly intimidating.”

Lena stands up, “You find me intimidating, Kara?” 

“I- uh, I-” 

“Hi Miss K!” A child, smaller than Marley, but probably around the same age enters the room, swinging her backpack around her body. 

Kara quickly stands up diverting her attention from Lena, who is smirking at how easy it was to fluster Kara. 

“Oh, good! Marley, this is one of your classmates, Ruby.” Kara takes the backpack and jacket from Ruby and hangs them both on a hook. “Honey, why don’t you sit next to Marley and get to know her?”

“Is this the little girl who you think might challenge Marley?” Lena asks, looking at the young child skeptically. 

“Oh, no. Ruby’s very intelligent, but this isn’t who I was talking about. I just think the two of them will get on really well.” 

Lena nods. “I’ve decided not to stay, but if it’s alright with you I would like to come back after school and discuss some more.” 

“Of course, Lena. And don’t worry about Marley. She is going to love it.” Kara smiles bashfully and Lena leans down to kiss her daughter's forehead before heading to the door. 

“Have a good day!” Kara calls out. 

Lena turns and smirks at the teacher, “You too, Miss Danvers,” Lena leaves with a wink. Of course she knows that it is inappropriate to flirt with your daughter's first grade teacher, especially in a school setting, but there’s just something so rewarding about being able to fluster someone like that. Lena likes the power she holds and that's exactly how she explained it to herself. It’s not like Kara was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. And it's definitely not like she lost all control of herself the second she saw her.  _ That  _ would be crazy.

“Sam is in your office, Miss Luthor,” Lena’s assistant, Jess says as soon as she exits the elevator. 

Lena gives Jess a blank stare, “Sam?” 

“She holds the position right below you, Miss Luthor. Surely you know her?” Lena lowers her eyes unsure, “Well, anyway, she wanted to talk to you about the upcoming gala. She is supposed to plan it.” 

Lena nods heading into her office. Sure enough a brunette woman who looks vaguely familiar is sitting in a chair waiting for Lena’s arrival.

“Sam! Nice to see you again!” Lena smiles. 

“And you, Miss Luthor. I didn’t know our girls were attending the same school.”

“Are they?”

“My little girl is Ruby.” Sam nods her head. 

“Oh, yes. I did meet her. She seems like a good kid.” 

Sam opens a file and hands Lena a sheet of paper with lines, “Anyway, I need everyone in the building to write the names of the guests they plan on bringing to the gala. Obviously because you are the CEO, your plus ones are endless. I just need you to have that back to me by Friday.” 

Lena shakes her head, uncapping her pen and writing “ _ Marley Luthor”  _ on the first spot. “That will be all.” 

“You’re not bringing any friends?” Sam asks. 

“I said that will be all,” Lena pushes the paper toward her, diverting her attention away from Sam and to the computer, allowing Sam to find her own way out. 

Lena found herself quite excited walking into the elementary school this time. She likes Marley’s teacher a lot. Being the end of the day, parents are lined up at the front of the school waiting for their children and children are screaming throughout the hallways making the place seem entirely too small. When Lena finally gets to Kara's classroom, she sees Kara, Marley, and another child sitting at the desks coloring. Lena stifles a laugh when seeing Kara crammed into a desk meant for six year olds. 

“Hello?” Lena asks, walking into the classroom. They all three turn around simultaneously. Kara stands up and quickly straightens her dress. 

“Being productive, I see,” Lena jokes, which never goes over well as most people can never tell if she is joking or not. 

“Oh! Well the kids just wanted to have a coloring contest and I though-” 

“It’s fine, Kara, honestly. Your pictures both look great.” Lena smiles. 

“Lena, this is Emmie. She is the other little girl I was telling you about this morning. She’s incredibly intelligent for her age.”

Lena looks to the child who is even smaller than Marley. Her straight brown hair is combed back into a ponytail and she wears a leather jacket that is at least two sizes too big. “Emmie, It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lena Luthor, Marley’s mother.” 

The little girl stands up, pushing her hand out of the large sleeve, “Emmie Danvers. Pleasure.” 

Lena takes her hand, surprised by the firmness of the six year olds hand shake, “Danvers?” Lena asks, looking to Kara. 

Kara smiles, finally standing from the desk, “Not mine. My sisters. Emmie is my niece, but I promise I'm not biased.” Lena nods and Kara looks back at the two kids, “Emmie why don’t you show Marley the gym? You two can play there until I’m done talking to Miss Luthor.” 

Emmie nods, grabbing Marley by the hand. “Your niece looks nothing like you. Does she get her looks from your sister’s husband?”

Kara laughs, “God, no. She’s Alex in and out,” She shows Lena her phone, a picture of Kara, Alex, and another woman. “That one is Alex.” 

“Who’s the other?” Lena asks. 

“Marley’s other mom,” Kara says nonchalantly, “Alex is gay.” 

Lena froze, scared that for some reason, Kara would ask her about her sexuality. It was kind of well-known that Lena had dated women, but not since she adopted Marley. She had never publicly addressed it either and definitely had never actually told someone that she is gay. 

“Lena?” Kara had been talking, but Lena had been too caught up in her thoughts to notice. 

“Sorry,” Lena smiled. “It seems like you have an amazing family, Kara. You’re lucky.” 

Kara smiled back and muttered a thank you before sitting down and motioning for Lena to do so as well. 

“I’ve been thinking that I would like to help with funds for the class. Maybe for better technology or something along the lines of that.”

“Oh!” Kara says, her eyes wide with possibilities, “Well, unfortunately, I don't think I can take a donation personally. You would probably have to go through the school, so it would be fair to everyone.” 

“That’s easy enough,” Lena says pulling out her checkbook, “How do I ensure that this will go for the education of the students and not to some ridiculous playground toy?”

“Uh, you would probably have to create a grant. Then you can make it as specific as you want. I would talk to the principal. I can give you her contact information,” Kara suggests. 

“That would be perfect, thank you.” 

Kara writes down the principal's email and phone number and hands it off to Lena.

Casually, Lena leans over the desk, “I really appreciate your help,  _ Miss Danvers.  _ I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Still leaning on the desk, Lena extends her arm out. Kara gapes, almost forgetting how to talk. 

She quickly takes Lena’s hand upon realizing that she had been staring and stutters her way through a goodbye. As Lena sways out of the room Kara can’t help but stare and when she’s gone, she collapses, laying her head on her desk mumbling, “What. the. Fuck.” 

“That’s a bad word, Aunt Kara.” 

Kara sits up, looking at her niece, “As if you haven’t heard worse from your mother. Go get your stuff from your locker, I have to call your mom.”

  
  



	2. Something Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments! You guys inspired me to get chapter 2 out so thank you!
> 
> Let me know what you think! I know there are a lot of flashbacks. Too much? Or would you like to see more of them in future chapters?
> 
> ______

“Let's go,” Lena says after exiting the classroom and finding Marley and Emmie outside the door. The two girls say their goodbyes and Emmie goes back into the inside to find her aunt. 

“She just said a bad word,” Marley snickers. 

“Who did, darling?” Lena asks, not paying much attention to her daughter's comment. 

“Miss K. She said ‘what the fu-‘”

Lena stops her daughter mid-sentence, “I got it,” she laughs, “You and your super hearing.”

Marley smiles at the comment, exiting the school. 

“Mommy, is the reason I don't have a daddy the same reason that Emmie doesn’t have a daddy?”

“Hmm?” Lena asks. She is often half listening to what people are saying, too busy thinking about her own issues, whether that be personal or L-Corp. This time her thoughts happened to be centered around a certain first grade teacher.

“Emmie says she has two mommies. She said her mommies are lesbians. Is that why I don’t have a daddy? And what's a lesbian?” 

Lena stops in the middle of the parking lot and stares at Marley.  _ Did her six year old really just ask if she was a lesbian?  _ It’s kind of an on the spot question. If anyone else asked she would be truthful, though she would be lying if she said she was absolutely comfortable talking about it. But her six year old daughter wants to know if her mom is a lesbian and she has no idea how she should even approach the subject of sexuality with her. 

“A lesbian is a woman who likes other women,” Lena figures this is enough and when Marley is silent for a moment she thinks she has skated by the question about her own sexuality. 

It’s when they’re in the car after Lena helps Marley buckle in and then climbs in the front seat that she speaks again. “I like other women, Mommy. Emmie is my best friend now!” 

Lena mentally kicks herself for her explanation. Of course she wouldn’t care if her daughter did like girls, but she should have known her first grader wouldn’t have the same concept of platonic vs romantic that she did. “No, not like in a friend way. Like in a get married and kiss each other way. Like how mommies and daddies do.” 

It seems to click for Marley after that, “So does that make you a lesbian then?”

What was she supposed to do? Lie to Marley and possibly scar her for life when she eventually finds out her mother lied to her making it seem like being a lesbian was a bad thing? Lena had grown up only being taught ideas of heterosexuality and doing that to her daughter seemed like one of the most damaging things she could do. “Yes, Marley. I do like women.” 

Lena can see Marley grinning in the backseat, “So does that mean I get to have two mommies like Emmie?” She asks excitedly. 

“For now I think it’s going to be just me and you, Marls,” Lena tells her. She had absolutely no intentions of dating, let alone marrying someone. They had gotten along just fine for the past six years and frankly, Lena didn’t really need someone else around. Sure, she did crave affection and just the presence of another person her own age, but she didn’t need it especially when she had a child to think about. “How about lasagna for dinner tonight?”

After parking in the parking garage, Lena gets out of the car, unbuckles Marley, puts Marley’s small backpack on her own back, and takes her daughters hand leading her to the elevator to take them up to the penthouse. 

“Can you put extra cheese on the lasagna, Mommy?” Marley asks as Lena uses her keys to open the door. 

“Extra cheese it is.. Any homework?” Marley doesn’t get a chance to answer because they are interrupted by a cough.    
  
Lena looks up at the figure sitting in the chair in their living room. “Lena, darling, we must refurnish this penthouse. All these colors, it looks like a rainbow threw up.”

“Marley, go to your bedroom, I’ll come get you when dinner is done,” Lena instructs her daughter. Typically, Marley might put up a fight and ask to stay in the living room to watch TV, but even at six, she could tell something was odd about the situation so she hastily makes her way to her room, closing the door behind her. When Lena hears the door shut she speaks, “Mother, what are you doing here? How did you even find out where I live?” 

“You hung up on me the other day, Lena. I figured the only way to talk was to do it in person.” 

“There isn’t anything to talk about,” She walks away from Lillian, heading into the kitchen. Evil mother here or not, she still had dinner to make. Lillian, of course, follows her. 

“I want Marley to go to St.James,” Lillian says straight up, referring to the private school Lena went to as a child. 

Lena snorts, “Absolutely not. That place is still in my nightmares. Besides, you have no idea what is best for my daughter.” 

“Look at you, being a mother. Cooking dinner and coddling your child. It’s really made you feel superior hasn’t it? Like you’re better than me? Do you really think you have any idea what is best for Marley? How would you? How on earth do you have any idea what a child needs?” 

Lena looks Lillian right in the eye, “I actually just do the opposite of what you would do and call it good. You don’t know me, mother, and you sure as hell don’t know my child. I am doing right by her and I don’t need you coming in here and trying to fuck up our lives.” 

“You think depriving a child of a relationship with her grandmother is right? She doesn’t even have a father, Lena. How is she going to turn out?” 

“I didn’t have a mother and I think I turned out just fine,” Lena says. She isn’t sure if her comment affects Lillian in anyway at all. She doesn’t figure she actually cares about her or Marley. Just the Luthor’s image if the media found out that Lena’s daughter is going to public school. “You need to leave.”

“Let me meet her,” Lillian insists. 

“There is no way in hell I’m letting her meet you. She has no clue who you are and I fully intend to keep it that way.”

Lillian finally gets up and heads toward the door. “I helped myself to a school photo of her,” She says, her hand on the door knob, “I’ll have it remastered and put next to the photos of you and Lex on the wall. She resembles him, you know.” She gives Lena her famous Lillian smile and leaves. The first thing Lena does is make an appointment to have the locks on the house changed, but knowing Lillian that won’t do much good.

When dinner is done Lena calls Marley back out of her room, desperately hoping that Marley won’t mention Lillian, but of course, she does. In fact it's the first thing out of her mouth as soon as she realizes the woman is no longer there, “Mommy who was that old lady?” 

“She used to work for L-Corp,” Lena says, not exactly lying, “I had to meet with her about some things, that's all.” 

Marley shrugs, not really caring that much anyway. “I almost finished my homework. Miss K gave me algebra work and reading about chemistry! She even gave me a paper with the periodic table on it!”

Lena smiles, pleased with the work her daughter had been given. She had decided that she really liked Kara was saddened that Marley would be leaving at the end of the semester. “You didn’t need any help?” 

“Miss K showed me how to do algebra. She said that where she is from they learned it even younger than me! She's really good at it, Mommy. And she told me to highlight anything I didn’t understand about the chemistry and she would explain it all to me tomorrow.” 

“Good, sweetie. But you know, I know all about chemistry and stuff too so if you ever need any extra help you can ask me.” Lena offers. Marley nods enthusiastically and Lena begins making them plates of food. “After dinner we have to go to the doctors, okay?” Lena had been scheduling quarterly check-ups for Marley since she was two. Ever since Lena had found out where Marley had come from. She could barely admit it to herself, that she actually was biologically related to Marley. Not that that was a bad thing, but it was the reasoning for it. 

_ A loud knock caused Lena to jump out of her seat, she glanced over to her daughter, still fast asleep in her pack and play. Lena didn’t trust a soul to watch Marley and besides, she figured that even while she was busy working she could give better care to Marley than some random person could. Lena quickly makes her way to the door, opening it slightly. Jess is attempting to hold Lillian back from the door.  _

_ “I’m sorry, Miss Luthor. I know she's asleep. I tried to tell Mrs. Luthor that she needed to schedule an appointment.” _

_ “This incompetent woman is your assisstant?” Lillian turns her head to Jess, “Do you know who I am?” _

_ “Mother, despite who you may be you do need an appointment. I’m busy, being the CEO of a company and all.” Lena steps out of the door, shutting it quietly behind her. “It’s okay Jess.”  _

_ Jess retreats back to her desk hesitantly, still keeping an eye on Lillian and Lena.  _ _   
  
_

_ “Is there something I can help you with, Mother?” Lena asks, a fake smile plastered across her face.  _

_ “Let's take this into your office. I would love to meet my granddaughter.” Lillian returns the same fake smile, attempting to walk past Lena into the office.  _

_ “Not a chance. Why are you here?”  _

_ Lillian sighs, “Oh, Lena. One day you’ll regret this.” She hands Lena an envelope and turns and leaves, disappearing like she had never been there in the first place. Lena quickly thanks Jess for her attempts at keeping her mother at bay and makes her way into her office. Lillian delivering an envelope, especially personally, was never a good sign.  _

_ After taking a moment to admire her sleeping toddler, Lena sits back in her chair like she had been before the interruption, but she doesn’t return to her work. She carefully tears open the envelope, pulling out the single piece of paper inside.  _

_ Lena didn’t know what to expect when Lillian handed her the envelope. She's unpredictable. It could have been anything and Lena knows nothing should really surprise at this point, but what she found on that paper? It was so much worse than she could have ever imagined. DNA results. Marley’s DNA results. _

She was Lex’s DNA, but Lena knew Lex better than that. He wouldn’t impregnate a woman, let alone let her go through with the pregnancy. Lena had always had the suspicion that Marley was the result of an experiment, she just didn’t know what or even why. Hence the check-ups. Lena paid good money for a doctor with a private practice who would see them after-hours and immediately seal the medical files, normal or not. 

“Do we have to Momma?” Marley whines. “I want to stay home and do the rest of the homework that Miss K gave me.” 

Lena smiles, admiring her daughter's desire to learn. She sees so much of herself in the child. Even after moving in with the Luthor’s the fire that ignited in Lena when she learned something new never faded and to see that same flame in her own child’s eyes… She would tell anyone that it is her greatest achievement. “Sorry baby, but we can take it with us if you would like.” 

Marley grins and the two of them finish up their dinner before heading over to Dr. Gatica’s office. Lena unbuckles Marley from her carseat taking the sheets of paper, from her while she got out of the SUV. “Studying the periodic table, huh? Do you need any help?” Lena asks, grabbing Marley’s hand and leading her to the door. 

Marley shakes her head, “I think I got it.” She says confidently and Lena chuckles. She may have been smart as a child, but she is pretty sure Marley has her by a few years. 

There’s no one in the office, even the secretary’s had already gone home and unless Lena was bringing Marley in for an emergency, it had always been that way. She preferred these visits be kept 100% secret if possible. After a few moments, Dr. Gatica emerged from the door leading to the offices. 

“Miss Luthor, Marley! How are you guys?” The doctor asks, motioning for the two of them to follow her back. 

“Oh, we’re good, Dr. Gatica. How about you? How’s your husband and kids?” Lena had gotten to know Dr. Gatica quite well in the past six years despite only seeing her four times a year. She had a set of twins the same age as Marley, which pleased Lena knowing Dr. Gatica definitely knew what was normal for Marley’s age and what might be  _ different. _

“Well look at that! You have grown an inch since last time Marley!” Dr. Gatica smiles. Marley grins back taking the papers back that Lena was holding for her. They follow Dr. Gatica into a room and she shuts the door. 

“All done.” Marley says nonchalantly, handing the paper that contained the periodic table back to Lena. 

“You’re done studying it?” Lena asks, an eyebrow raised. 

“I don't need to study it anymore. I know it, Momma.”

Lena knew that Marley was serious, but she wanted to show Dr. Gatica exactly what they were dealing with. “You’ve been studying it for less than twenty minutes, Marls. What do you mean you know it?” Marley began reciting the elements in order, which impressed Lena even more so because she had just been looking at the periodic table, no list of the elements in alphabetical order to be found on any of the sheets Miss Danvers had given her. Lena nearly stopped Marley about half way through the elements but decided to let her repeat all 118 for effect. 

“Wow. I’ve been a doctor for twenty years and I can’t recite all of the elements to save my life,” Dr. Gatica says to both of them before looking at Lena specifically. “She’s really something special.” 

Dr. Gatica began doing Marley’s normal check-up, which consisted of checking Marley’s temperature, her blood pressure, her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Marley’s check up would almost resemble a normal child’s check-up if it wasn't for the blood work and x-rays that followed at the end. 

“Everything still seems to be normal, Miss Luthor,” Dr. Gatica said, “I’ll have the lab results delivered to you tomorrow and we can discuss, but I can’t imagine it’s abnormal.” Dr.Gatica then looks to Marley, “Do you have any questions, Marley? Have you noticed anything different?”

Lena instantly notices Marley’s eyes go wide. This was only the second visit that Marley had been  _ somewhat _ included in the discussion portion of the doctor visits. It wasn’t necessary before. Lena was always with her, and besides, Marley was young. After she had turned six, Dr. Gatica suggested she be included in case there was something she noticed that Lena hadn’t. Marley shakes her head not saying a word and Lena continues to remind herself that she is just not used to being asked these types of questions. For some reason though, Lena thinks, something just feels off. 

“Well alright,” Dr. Gatica says, closing her laptop. “I’ll seal everything immediately, Miss Luthor. How does the 10th of December sound for the next appointment? Same time.” 

“Perfect,” Lena nods, “Come on Marls, how about some dessert?”

At this, Marley grins her wide, toothy grin. One of those grins that makes Lena want to just stop time and take it all in. As much as Marley had grown up, especially in the past six months, those smiles took Lena back in time to her baby. 

_ “Come on, sweet girl, you can do it!” Lena has her phone in one hand and a cookie in the other. One year old Marley has a loose grip on the couch and Lena is desperate for her to take her first steps, hence the bribery.  _

_ “You want the cookie, don't you Marley? Come on, it's just one step! If you come to me you can have the entire cookie!” Still holding onto the couch, Marley begins stretching her other arm, as far as she possibly can in attempts to reach the cookie, eventually just toppling over. Lena sighs, setting the cookie down on the coffee table and walking to the kitchen to check her work phone for emails. When she looks up through the pass through in the wall between the kitchen and the living room, she sees Marley, standing wobbly on her feet without support. Determined to get the cookie that Lena had left. As not to startle the one year old, Lena quietly pulls her phone out, recording through the pass through. And then she does it. Just like that, Marley takes two wobbly steps forward before successfully grabbing onto the coffee table to support herself and taking the cookie. She grins a four tooth grin, cookie in her mouth and all and Lena’s heart melts at the sight. How could she have ever thought that this wasn’t meant to be? _

“Marley?” Lena asks, after they had sat down at a table. They ended up deciding on frozen yogurt, one of Marley’s absolute favorites, though what child wouldn’t love endless toppings? “You were telling the truth when Dr. Gatica asked you if you had noticed anything different about yourself right?” She isn’t really sure why she was even asking. Marley was six. Why would she even want to hide anything from her? How would she even know to? 

Marley nods and looks down to her frozen yogurt. 

“I’m just double checking because I want to remind you that whatever you tell Dr. Gatica in that room is safe. It stays between the three of us.” 

“Okay Mommy!” Marley replies, leaving Lena feel almost dumb for asking.

Later that night, after Marley is in bed, Lena finds herself on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand. She sits cross-legged, flipping through a photo album. Her only photo album from her childhood. She isn’t sure what made her feel so nostalgic tonight, but she doubts it was Lillian’s presence. Although one thing had been on her mind consistently after the reunion with her mother, and that was her father. She missed him. Not only was Lillian much less menacing before Lionel had passed away, but he had always treated Lena with love.

There were pictures floating around in magazines of Lena as a child and Lionel, but they were always side by side with a straight faced Lillian. In this album, however, there was a photo of a five year old Lena and Lionel, his arms wrapped around her lovingly, cheeky grins on both of their faces. She isn't sure who took the photo, but it is obvious that it wasn’t Lillian. 

This picture always made her wish she could bring her father back. Not only to cure her heart that had shattered the day he died, but to give Marley someone else. Someone besides herself for her daughter to play chess with. Someone to make her feel loved and safe. Someone besides just her because she hated herself for not giving Marley a family. For setting her daughter up for just as lonely of a life as she had lived since her father died. 

Tears streamed down Lena’s face as she clutched the photo to her chest, remembering the day she had received this photo album and a note from her father that she will never forget.

_ It was Lena’s twenty-second birthday and she was spending it alone in her penthouse with her two year old daughter. She had not received any presents nor did she have a party, but she liked it like that. She cooked an extra special dinner for her and Marley, and even ordered cupcakes. Not for her pleasure, but for her daughter who had the ultimate sweet tooth. Lena had just strapped Marley into her high chair at the table when her doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so her guard was immediately up. She peeked through the peephole. Nothing. No one. Not that she could see anyway. Lena grabbed her gun from the safe, loading it before opening the door. When she did, she was prepared to shoot, but there was nothing but a box at her door. A box with a photo album sitting at the bottom of it. She puts her foot in the box, pulling it in quickly and slamming the door and locking it.  _

_ “Eat, Mommy!” Marley yells from the dining room. Lena puts her gun away, locking the safe. She gently picks up the photo album, turning to the first page as she walks back to the dining room. Childhood pictures. Lex’s birth. Lex as a baby, a toddler. His first day of school. And then, Lena’s birth. Lena as a baby. All pictures she had never seen before. Pictures of her she never even knew existed. The photos stop around the age she came to live with the Luthor’s, though there were a few after that. A picture of her and Lex on her first Christmas with the family. A newspaper clipping about Lena winning the statewide spelling bee. A picture of her the day before she left for boarding school when she was eleven and finally, a picture of her on her graduation day. At the end, an engraving: Property of Lionel Luthor. And a pocket with a note inside.  _

_ My dear Lena. This will be delivered to you on your 22nd birthday. The age that your mother died. Your mother took those photos of you as a child. I want you to know she had so much love for you. She sent me copies every time she got them printed. As you can imagine, it made Lillian crazy. There are a few hidden from us that Lillian got to first, but these are the family photos that I have at my office.  _

_ You may be wondering why I have these. Why your mother would send me copies before I even knew of you, but it’s time you knew the truth. You are a Luthor. I had an affair and your mother gave birth to you. I wanted more than anything to bring you home the day you were born, but Lillian would not allow it. If you don’t already know this, which would be a surprise since you have always been too smart for your own good, then now you know that you are of Luthor descent. When you turn twenty-eight, or when Lillian dies, you will inherit half of everything. Lex the other half. Sell the houses, sell the company. I don’t care. Just please, take care of your grandmother’s house in Ireland. You will inherit that as well.  _

_ With love, Father.  _

____

Sometime in the night, long after Marley’s bedtime, and even Lena’s too, Marley is startled awake. Her blanket had fallen off of her, just like it had every night for the past month. No longer scared of the reasoning, she only lets out a small gasp before closing her eyes and willing her body to slowly float down. 

Every single night for the last month, Marley had been awoken by her blanket falling, only to be hovering three feet above her bed. It scared her at first, causing her to fall the first few nights and painfully land on the ground, but she had learned to relax her body and let herself slowly fall back into bed.

She knew this wasn’t normal and she knew she should tell her mom, but something inside of her urged her to keep it to herself… And so she did. 

  
  



	3. Kara Danvers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is Kara Danvers? 
> 
> AND 
> 
> More Lena/Kara ;)

“We can’t jump to conclusions, Kara. What happens if we bring her in and she isn’t kryptonian? Her mother is Lena Luthor, for god sakes!” 

“No. I’m telling you it’s her. She’s the same age as Emmie,” Kara lowers her voice. 

“We need proof. We can’t just bring in Lena Luthor’s daughter to the DEO. If you haven’t noticed, the place is full of aliens and Lena Luthor happens to be Lex Luthor’s sister.” 

“She’s not like that, Alex.” 

“No offense, but you’ve known her for two days. You trust way too quickly. Besides, for all we know, the kid is Lena Luthor’s biological daughter.”

“She looks so similar to me as a kid. Rao, if only I had a picture.”

Alex sighs, “Kara, I’m sorry but we can’t launch an investigation based off of a doppelganger.”

Emmie walks into the classroom and looks up at her aunt, “Fine, but I’ll see you soon.” She hangs up the phone and takes her niece by the hand. “Ready to go bother Winn?” 

Kara buckles Emmie into her car and drives to the DEO. When Clark suggested she do her best to live a normal human life, she decided to do just that. She flies sometimes, as a stress reliever, but she would never use her alien advantages to make things easier for herself. She wants to do things just like everyone else. Besides, Alex has a strict no-flying with Emmie policy.

J’onn frowns when he sees Emmie with Kara. It’s not that he doesn’t like the kid, he just fears for her safety being here. And what would the DEO do if a six-year-old accidentally blabbed to someone about the aliens she saw? 

“J’onn!” Emmie grins, sliding out of her leather jacket and jumping into the martians arms.

“Emilia,” He says formally, adjusting the child in his arms. He turns to Kara, “May I ask what she is doing here?”

“Who exactly was I supposed to leave her with? Alex is here, you and Winn are here, and James is in France.” 

“I don’t know? Mother number two, maybe?” J’onn groans, holding the child tighter. Whenever Emmie is at the DEO he can’t stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong. The DEO is full of weapons, aliens, and many other things that children should never get their hands on. As much as he tries to play the grumpy old grandpa, he loves the kid and especially after losing his own daughters, he feels he has a responsibility to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

“I’ll lock her in the conference room with some crayons? Sound good?” Kara rolls her eyes at J’onn and Emmie rolls her eyes at both of him. 

“I’m not going to touch anything,” She states, squirming from J’onn’s tight grip. 

Kara shrugs, taking Emmie’s hand and walking past J’onn to Winn’s desk. When they approach his desk, he immediately turns around, a wind-up toy in hand. “Finally! Someone here who understands me!” He says loudly to Emmie, handing her the toy. Emmie erupts in a series of giggles. 

“Mind keeping an eye on her for a second? I need to talk to Alex.” Winn knows well that it’s more of a statement than a question, especially since she walks away as soon as she finishes her sentence. Kara is on a mission and he knows better than to interfere. 

“Alex! Hey! Alex” Kara yells after finding her sister. Alex turns around and sighs. She was well aware that Kara was going to come bother her about this but that didn’t mean it was totally welcome. 

“Kara. I have work to do,” Alex says after approaching her. 

Kara takes a deep breath before beginning her spiel. “Alex. Hear me out, it makes total sense and I need answers. Marley Luthor is six years old. If he did what I think he was planning to do with my DNA, the child would be seven or under.” 

“Kara, Emmie is six. Are you sure she’s not the kryptonian child?” Alex rolls her eyes. 

“Marley is Lena Luthor’s child. It would make so much sense for her to be raising the child that Lex produced!” 

“Let me get this straight,” Alex starts, pulling Kara into a conference room so that nobody could overhear their conversation. “You claim that Lena Luthor is nothing like Lex, the alien hater, yet you think she is actively holding this alien child hostage?”

“I think she is raising this child, Alex! Maybe she felt bad about what Lex did.” 

Alex shakes her head, “I’m sorry, Kara. Your theory is baseless. I know you want answers but we can’t investigate without solid evidence.” 

“What if it isn’t baseless, Alex? I think she has super hearing.” Alex raises her eyebrow. 

“Today in class, I was talking to the principal about Marley. In the hallway. We were whispering and when I went back into the classroom, Marley repeated some of what I had said back to me. That’s when I started thinking. It isn’t baseless.” 

“So she was eavesdropping and has really good hearing. That's not evidence, Kara.” Alex’s face softens, “I’m sorry. We will figure this out eventually, but we can’t go on a wild goose chase. Especially when it involves Lena Luthor.” Kara nods. “Why don't you go home? Get something to eat. I’ll have Maggie come get Emmie.” 

Kara begins to walk away to go say goodbye to her niece when Alex stops her, “And Kara?” Kara turns around, once again facing her sister. “We’ll get answers for you. Eventually, but not today and not without evidence; and I’m begging you, do not take this into your own hands.” 

Back at her apartment, Kara decides to call Clark. She figures, if no one else, he might understand where she is coming from. She doesn’t exactly want to expose Marley if she is kryptonian, the last thing she wants to do is put a target on the child, but she needs answers. 

It’s only 30 seconds from the time she dials Clarks number to when he shows up at her door. “Clark, hey,” Kara says, pulling him in for a hug. 

She has always felt a different level of comfort when she is with Clark. Of course, Eliza comforts her, and Alex does too, but Clark is the only one who understands her. She would be lying if she said she always had a good relationship with him, but she knows the exact day that she began looking up to him as a mentor, and not her little-big cousin who abandoned her. 

_ Kara didn’t understand most Earth holidays, but Easter really didn't make sense to her. They nailed who to what? Why was that a thing to celebrate? The Danvers weren’t really that big on Easter. They bought Alex and Kara candies, but it wasn’t anything too special. This year however, they were invited to the Kent’s for Easter dinner. That was another thing Kara didn’t understand. Why call it dinner if it’s at two in the afternoon? Isn’t that lunch? At least the Kent’s were the one family who understood having a teenage Kryptonian in the household. There was always plenty of food to go around. _

_ “Kara!” Clark pulls the sixteen year old into a hug. She always enjoys hugging her cousin. He was the only person who she could hug and not worry about crushing. “And Alex. It’s nice to see you, kid,” He ruffles her hair and she rolls her eyes at him. _

_ “I’m nineteen, Clark. And don’t mess up my hair.”  _

_ “That's right. Your birthday was last month, wasn’t it?” Alex nods, clearly not up for conversation. “And you’ll be seventeen soon, correct?” _

_ “September 22nd. That’s the closest I could get from Kryptonian months. And technically? I’ll be forty-two. Compared to me, you’re a child,” Kara grins. She played that card whenever she was around her cousin. He didn’t mind, of course. _

_ “You’ve aged well,” He chuckles and flexes his bicep, “Almost as well as me.”  _

_ “I don’t suppose we should waste any time,” Martha, Clark’s mother, says, leading everyone to the dining room. “I made triple servings of everything. I hope it’s enough.”  _

_ “Oh my,” Eliza says, “Yes, there’s plenty, thank you.”  _

_ “Well, having both Clark and Kara here I knew we would need a lot. Clark would eat four times the calories a normal teenager would when his powers were coming in. Tell me Kara, how are they coming along?”  _

_ “She nearly caught our bedroom on fire over winter break,” Alex chimes in, “I had never been happier to go back to college.”  _

_ “That wasn’t my fault! You startled me!” Kara says, already piling food onto her plate, “The only thing I know for sure I have a handle on is the flying and that's only because I could do that as soon as I got to Earth. I don’t think I’ll have Clarks freeze breath though.”  _

_ “That one came in late for me,” Clark says “You’ll get it eventually.”  _

_ “I’ve been promising to take her somewhere to fly, but it just worries me,” Eliza admits. Martha nods, understanding her fears.  _

_ “If you guys want to drive home tonight, Kara can stay a little longer and I can fly her home,” Clark suggests.  _

_ Kara’s eyes light up, “Can we?”  _

_ “Oh, I don't know,” Eliza sighs. _

_ “Please! Clark will make sure I’m safe. I’ve never gotten to fly that long before!”  _

_ “Alright, fine,” She gives in. _

_ Later that night almost an hour and a half after the Danvers had left to return home, Clark and Kara began preparing to leave.  _

_ “You know, Kara, you can call me Kal if you want. I know that’s what you’re used to.”  _

_ Kara looks up at him, “I’ve known you longer as Clark now than I did as Kal-El. I do miss the family names, but I won’t forget.”  _

_ “I didn’t want to ask you about Krypton when you first got here. You were just a scared little girl, but I suppose you aren’t so little anymore. Do you think you could tell me about it?” _

_ Kara grins, “I didn’t think you would ever ask. What do you want to know?”  _

_ “Did it look very much like earth? My parents always said it must be similar because kryptonians are so alike biologically, but I saw how you reacted to things like birds and plants when you first got here.”  _

_ “My mother used to tell me stories of krypton from when she was a kid. Before the planet was ruined it had all of those things. It was only after devastation that it became the krypton I know. It was still so beautiful though.” _

_ “And the education?”  _

_ “Not at all like here. We had telepathy helmets to help us learn. It fed the information straight to our brains. We were long past the years of learning things manually. We were still taught though, mostly skills, not things like math and science.”  _

_ Clark nods, “You don’t have to answer this, but what was that day like?”  _

_ Kara immediately knew what day Clark meant. The day they left. “Fast. It all happened fast. Things were blowing up, flying in the air. I always heard mom and dad talking about coming to earth if it happened. I thought they meant all of us. Maybe they did and it happened too quickly. I’ll never know. I was sleeping. Dad carried me outside. Mom gave me her necklace and told me to take care of you. I begged her to come with, in my pod. She only shook her head and kissed my forehead. Your parents sat you in your pod. I got in mine. The last thing I remember is going off course. I watched your pod until I couldn’t see it anymore. There was shaking. After that all I remember is when I woke up. I was already on earth, but until you found me I had no idea how long it had been. I just couldn’t believe I was alive.”  _

_ “I can’t imagine how scary that must have been. You went from having your worst day on krypton to your worst day on earth.”  _

_ Kara laughs, “Oh I wish I could say that it was my worst day on earth.”  _

Clark returns Kara’s hug and shuts the door behind him, “Hey, Kara. What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Remember the theory that Jeremiah had before he died? The one where he said that Lex Luthor was trying to create another kryptonian with my dna?” Clark nods, “Well what if I told you I might have a theory of my own?” 

Kara goes on to explain Marley Luthor to Clark, going into even more detail than she did with Alex. She has one chance to get him to believe her and she isn’t going to waste it. 

“So Lex Luthor created a half-kryptonian out of your dna and another human’s dna and then just gave it to his little sister to raise?” Clark asks skeptically.

“I don't know, I was thinking that she took her from him. That she felt bad for her. Lena just isn’t like that, Clark.” 

Clark sighs, “There was a point in time where Lex Luthor was my best friend. I trusted him. He was eccentric, but I would have never called him evil. He then went on to kidnap my cousin and try and murder me. They are Luthor’s, Kara. You can’t trust them.” 

“That's not the point, Clark. Even if Lena is evil, she might still have a half-kryptonian. That is my dna! Technically that would make her my child. Nobody will help me Clark. Alex is refusing, the DEO can’t do anything. I don’t know what else to do.” 

Clark sighs, before standing and heading towards the door, “I’m sorry, kid. If I think of something that can help, I’ll let you know, but I’m not diving head first in a Luthor situation again, and I would advise you not to as well.” 

Once the door is shut, Kara plops down onto her couch, causing the legs to crumble beneath it. Her teacher’s salary and super strength definitely don’t compliment one another.

Kara had thought it over so many times. Lena was a Luthor, but she didn’t act like one. As far as she knows she doesn’t have a hateful bone in her. She isn’t like her family. That is good if what she thinks about Marley turns out to be true. She would grow up in an accepting household. She wants to do more for her, to be there for her to give her someone to relate to. She just needs to find out if she's right, and apparently she's going to have to do it herself.

Kara decides to get some work done and begins grading her students' pretests, though her head is flooded with so many thoughts about Lena and Marley, even an hour later she hasn’t made much progress. Eventually an email notification pulls her out of her trance.

**_From:_ ** **_lenaluthor@lcorp._ ** **_org_ **

**_Subject: Just a few questions…_ **

**_Hello Miss Danvers!_ **

**_I have a few questions about the upcoming semester, Marley’s testing, and I would love to get your opinions on the grant. I think you would be a great help! Feel free to email me back when you have the time._ **

**_Lena Luthor_ **

Of course, because self control is virtually non-existent to Kara, she emails Lena back right away.

**_To:_ ** **_lenaluthor@lcorp._ ** **_org_ **

**_Subject: Reply_ **

**_Of course, Lena!_ **

**_I would be more than happy to help. If you would like to do this in person instead of over email feel free to come by for dinner tonight at seven. Emmie will be here so Marley is more than welcome. :)_ **

**_Kara_ **

“So much for not taking this into my own hands,” Kara mutters under her breath.

“What was that?” A voice Kara recognizes as Alex’s startles her. 

“How long were you standing there?” Kara asks, “And what are you doing here?”

“Em forgot her crayons in your car. Apparently they are a necessity and no, we couldn’t go buy new ones because they’re not the same,” Alex rolls her eyes, “Who are you texting?”

“No one,” Kara says, walking to Emmie’s desk and retrieving the already obviously used box of crayons from the counter. “I brought the crayons inside.” She begins to hand them to Alex, but her phone beeps again so she retracts her hand, nearly dropping the crayons in the process. 

**_From:_ ** **_lenaluthor@lcorp._ ** **_org_ **

**_Subject: Hmm, dinner?_ **

**_I wouldn’t miss it for the world. ;)_ **

**Lena Luthor**

“Kara?” Alex waves her hand in front of her sisters face, snatching the box from her hand. “Who are you texting?” 

“I said no one, Alex.” 

“You’re blushing.”

“It’s hot in here. I'm just warm.” 

Alex rolls her eyes, “Yeah, you can't play that card with me. For one, I know you’re kryptonian. Temperature doesn’t affect your body the same way. Two, I’m your sister. I know when you’re into someone. Who is he?”

“I'm not into anyone, okay?” Kara raises her voice. 

“Woah, no need to get defensive. I’ll bring her by in about an hour. You sure you’re good with her staying two nights?” 

“Of course,” Kara grins, stuffing her phone into her pocket and grabbing her bags. “You and Maggie enjoy that mini-vacation. You guys deserve it.” 

Later that night Kara is sitting a steaming pan of homemade chicken noodle soup on the table when there is a knock at her door. She rushes to the door, but is beaten by Emmie who is already making conversation with Lena and Marley. 

“Emmie! Haven’t your mom’s ever told you to never open a door without an adult?” 

“I knew who it was, Aunt Kara,” The six year old rolls her eyes. 

Kara looks up at Lena and smiles, “Hi guys! Sorry about that. Come in, dinner just finished.” 

“Can I show Marley my room?” Emmie asks, referring to the guest bedroom that Emmie had pretty much taken for her own. There were toys scattered throughout it and many pairs of her clothes in the closet. 

“Five minutes,” Kara says, “Then you can both come down and eat.” 

“So what's for dinner, Miss Danvers? Pizza, chinese?” 

Kara blushes, “I made chicken noodle soup. Homemade bread, too.” 

“Really?” Lena smirks, her red lipstick making everything a million times worse for Kara, “I didn’t take you for much of a cook.” 

Kara leads Lena into the dining room, “Well when you love food as much as I do, you learn to cook and you learn to do it well. Trust me, there were many explosions when I first started as a teenager. My adoptive mother had to replace our oven twice.” 

“Adoptive mother?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m adopted. My parents died when I was twelve. House fire.” 

Lena frowns, “I am so sorry, I didn’t know.” 

“Don't be. Feel free to take a seat. I’ll get the girls.” 

“This is a lot of food. Planning on feeding the homeless afterwards?” 

“I just figured we would need plenty. I eat a lot more than you would expect, and if I’m correct, Marley’s the same way.” 

“How did you know?” Lena laughs. 

“She reminds me a lot of myself. That's all.” Kara knew the potential risk in what she was saying. Kara could basically be outing herself as a Kryptonian and that was exactly what the DEO didn’t want. 

Lena raises her eyebrow suspiciously, but it goes unnoticed by Kara.

Kara heads to the base of the stairs and calls for the girls, quickly heading back to Lena in the dining room. 

“I usually make Emmie’s plate. She doesn’t eat very much. Should I make Marley’s?” Kara asks after setting a bowl in front of Lena. Lena nods and Kara fills the bowl. “She’ll want seconds I’m sure. Do you like rosé?”

“Sounds good to me.” 

Emmie and Marley trudge into the dining room, plopping into seats side by side. 

“I love soup! Mommy can only cook some food, but sometimes Jeanie makes it for us!” 

“Marley!” Lena exclaims, but Kara laughs.

“No, Marley. Tell me more.” 

“Mommy always says she isn’t very good at-” 

“Questions! I have some questions for you Kara. That's why we are here,” Lena glares at Marley who chuckles at her mother’s embarrassment. 

“Shoot.” 

“The pretesting you did, how did that go?”

“Marley tested much higher than the rest of her peers as you expected. Emmie didn’t test quite as high, but I still think that the girls will be a great challenge to each other. However, I will be giving Marley much more advanced work while still ensuring she is able to participate in the social aspect of the group learning.”

“Fantastic. So what do you mean by advanced work?” 

“When grading assignments I don’t put them in the grade book by the specific assignment. It will be math worksheet one, reading worksheet one, and so on. So each group of students will be getting assignments tailored to their needs. I would like to meet with you and Marley after school one day to discuss her exact needs.”

“And what about tests? Doesn’t the school require the students to take the same assessments?” 

“State exams, yes, but as long as each student can pass that then we are in the clear. That won't be a problem for students like Emmie and Marley. It’s the students who have more trouble learning that I will need to focus on.” 

“So you’re saying the less intelligent students will get more of your attention leaving the other children to fend for themselves?” 

“No, not at all. I won’t lie, the students who need more help will get more one on one time with me, but I will ensure that I’m meeting with each group daily to help with anything the students might need.”

Lena, seeming pleased with this answer, moves on, “So this grant; what does the school lack that I could help with?” 

“You know, the charter school that my friend from college works at has this really amazing program where they have tutors come in to work with each child individually for an hour a week. It’s probably out of your budget to hire twenty full time tutors though…” 

Lena thinks for a moment, “What's that cost? Around $500,000? That’s easy. Especially if it will advance the children’s education.” 

Kara’s eyes go big, “That’s a lot of money, Lena.” 

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’d give double that if the school would pay the tutors more, you know to ensure the ones hired are really good, but then they would be getting paid more than the teachers and I don’t feel comfortable with that.” 

“Are you sure, Lena? It’s not nothing. That is a lot of money.” 

“And I have plenty to go around,” Lena states. 

After dinner had finished, Lena and Kara allowed the kids thirty minutes of play time before Lena had to take Marley home. 

Now sitting on the couch, Lena looks to Kara, “Your soup was excellent. Tell me more about where you learned to cook.” 

Kara grins, “Eliza taught me so much. Food was sort of a comfort for me after my parents died and cooking became therapy, although actual therapy might have been cheaper than the damages to the house,” Kara laughs. “I didn’t cook with my parents. We had cooks, and maids, all of that. I would have learned if I decided to go into food, but it was frowned upon, and besides, I was preparing to become a scientist.” 

Lena tilts her head, “A scientist? I thought you said you were twelve?”

Kara’s eyes widen, realizing she had said too much, “I- uh, yeah, I was twelve. My parents, my- entire community, country? I guess? Things were taken very seriously at a young age.” 

“You aren’t from the United States?” Lena asks, even more confused. 

“Um, no, I guess not. I was born in a country, in, um- Europe. You wouldn’t have heard of it. Small country. Pretty unknown.” Kara stutters.

“Well, your english is amazing, but I’ll get back to that. I swear you get more interesting every time you talk, Kara Danvers,” Lena laughs, causing Kara to blush a bright red, not unnoticed by Lena. “Your family was affluent then?” Kara raises an eyebrow, “You had cooks and maids. I just assumed.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess. Something like that. More like a mix between oligarchs and royalty. I don't know, it's hard to explain.” 

Lena pauses for a moment, a smirk appearing on her face, “So, then tell me how Princess Kara Danvers ended up in National City.” 

“We didn’t have titles. My family held seats in the council. That's how my country was governed.” Kara sighs, kicking herself. Why did she feel inclined to tell this woman her life story? “Anyway, after the fire, I didn’t have any family left, except for a cousin in Metropolis. He knew a family in Midvale, The Danvers, and he arranged for them to take me in. I moved here to go to college after Alex did.”

“Wow,” Lena says, at a loss for words, “You have quite the life story.” Kara smiles shyly. “If it wasn’t for Marley’s impending bedtime, I’d be begging to hear more. Perks of being a mother I suppose, though I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Kara stands up, leading Lena to Emmie’s bedroom where the girls are playing, “Oh come on, Marley Luthor, cranky? I’ll believe it when I see it.” 

“You’ve yet to meet sleepy Marley, I’m sure you will eventually,” Lena laughs. 

Once they are back by the front door and ready to go, Kara and Lena exchange a quick hug. Unable to resist the urge to make Kara blush, Lena leans in and says soft enough for only Kara to hear, “I’d love to do this again sometime, Miss Danver’s.” Sure enough, Kara’s cheeks are burning the same red that Lena had learned to love, and with that, Lena and Marley exchange their final goodbyes and head home.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! PLEASE let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment! It means a lot :)


	4. Sunflowers and Daisies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kara's birthday and Lena is a lesbian.

Lena and Marley had left about an hour ago but they were both still heavy on Kara’s mind. She knows that basing her beliefs that Marley is part kryptonian on the fact that she was able to consume so much food during dinner is crazy, but she is convinced. Lena had joked about it being a normal occurrence, but no human child would have a fast enough metabolism to eat that much food all the time.

No one can quite understand her reasoning, especially when so much of it is based off of her gut feeling. She can feel a connection with Marley. A different kind of connection that makes her just know that Marley is a part of her. Just because the DEO refuses to find out the truth doesn’t mean she isn’t going to. 

**_From:_ ** **_lenaluthor@lcorp._ ** **_org_ **

**_Subject: Thanks for dinner!_ **

**_I had a wonderful time at dinner tonight. Thanks so much for feeding us, especially Marley. I hope you weren’t looking forward to leftovers._ **

**_I know you are my daughter's teacher, but I figured it would be easier to communicate if you had my phone number._ **

**_(619) 354-9872_ **

**_Please, do not hesitate to contact me through text or phone call. I enjoy hearing from you, Kara Danvers._ **

**_Regards,_ **

**_Lena Luthor_ **

Kara stares blankly at the email for a few moments, her heart pounding. She finally copies the number into her phone, making a new contact and then pulling up a new text message. 

**New Text Message:**

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

Kara thinks for a moment on what she could possibly say to Lena and begins typing. 

**Hey Lena! It’s Kara!! Thanks for giving me your phone number I really-**

Kara scoffs, knowing she sounds desperate and erasing what she had written. 

**Hello Lena! It’s Kara! Dinner was no problem, I’d love to do it again sometime if you’re up to it!**

**Thanks for giving me your phone number, I appreciate you trusting me with it.**

It’s only a few moments before she receives a text back.

**From: Lena Luthor :)**

**We can do dinner again on the condition that I take you out.**

Kara’s heart thuds even louder this time, her breath shallow after reading the text. A second later, another text comes in. 

**Oh god. That sounded unprofessional, I apologize. I meant we could go out to dinner, you, Marley, and I, on me. I’ll pay.**

Kara laughs, blushing a little and maybe wishing that Lena had actually meant she wanted to take her out. 

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

**Now look who’s stumbling over their words. You can take me out any time you would like, Lena.**

**Now, I have a classroom full of six year olds to teach tomorrow, so I’m heading to bed. Goodnight, Lena.**

From her own couch, Lena is staring at her phone, smiling and burning red. She can’t let Kara know she had flustered her and the only way to do that was to get back at her during drop off the next morning 

**To: Kara Danvers**

**Goodnight, Kara.**

The next morning Lena does not struggle to get out of bed. In fact, she was awake before her alarm clock even went off thinking about her daughter’s teacher, and yes, she is choosing to ignore how inappropriate it may be. Now, she is sitting, waiting to wake Marley up so she can begin getting her ready for school. She debates on waking her up early so she can have more time to talk to Kara, but she decides against it, especially since she doesn’t know what time Kara actually arrives. Besides, she doesn’t want to look  _ too  _ desperate. 

At seven, Lena tiptoes into Marley’s bedroom and turns on the lamp. Marley, doesn’t budge, but that doesn’t surprise Lena. She has always slept like a rock. “Marrrrley,” Lena says in a singsong voice, running her hands through her daughter's thick locks. She had always admired her daughter's thick blonde curls, but it had taken her a couple months to master the art of styling them. “Marrrley Kiernan,” Lena sings again, placing a kiss on Marley’s forehead. Marley’s eyes began to flutter open and she smiles when she sees Lena above her. “Hi Mommy.” 

Lena helps Marley get ready, despite knowing she is more than capable of doing it herself. She helps her pick out an outfit that consists of pink floral pants and a blue shirt, perfect for the sunny September weather in National City. Lena ties Marley’s curly hair behind her head with a hair scarf that matches her pants and smiles. “You’re adorable,” Lena states. “Like a little ray of sunshine.” 

“Thank you, Mommy!” Marley giggles, slipping on her brown sandals.

On the way to the school, Lena can’t stop thinking about Kara, not that that’s any different than the rest of the morning… And the night before… and the entire day yesterday. This time however, she's thinking about what she can do to fluster the poor girl. She can’t really decide what her obsession is with watching Kara’s cheeks go from a warm, sunny peach to looking like she had spent a day out on the beach, but it makes her feel good. 

Upon walking into the school, Lena looks at her watch and notices it’s earlier than they typically show up, but she figures it's a good way to catch Kara off guard. As they walk through the hallway, Lena has to remind herself multiple times that this is her daughter's teacher and they are currently at her daughter's school. She is here to drop her daughter off to learn. Not so she can see her daughter's teacher, and especially not so she can get another chance to look at her pretty blue eyes. “Miss K’s door is closed, Mommy,” Marley states. 

Lena leans in to grab the door knob but Marley stops her, “Wait! She's talking to someone!” Lena listens closer and can hear Kara’s muffled through the classroom door. 

“Sounds like she's on the phone,” Lena says, “Good hearing. We’ll just wait until she's done so we don't interrupt her.” 

To pass the time, Lena begins quizzing Marley on chemistry questions and she is surprised when Marley gets them all correct. It's even more surprising to Lena that to Marley the stuff she had been asking seemed easy like she had years of knowledge beyond the basic questions Lena was asking her. Lena was about to ask more questions to try and gauge how much exactly her daughter knew, when the door to the classroom swung open.

“Lena! Marley!” Kara jumps, “Gosh, you scared me.” 

“Well hello to you too, Miss Danvers,” Lena smirks at her. A second goes by of Kara just staring at the pair before Lena speaks again, “Are you going to let us in the classroom or will you be holding class out in the hallway today?” 

Kara’s eyes go wide, realizing she was blocking the entrance to the room, “Sorry! If I would have known you two were here I would have let you in earlier.” 

“Oh, it’s no problem. Marley heard you talking on the phone so we figured you were busy. I was just quizzing Marley on chemistry. It seems you have taught her well.” Lena and Marley enter the room, Kara following behind. “Marley, why don’t you go put your backpack on your hook and find your seat?” Lena suggests. 

“I’d love to take credit for it, Lena, but Marley is just incredibly smart. She retains knowledge unlike any other child I’ve seen here.”

“Here?” Lena asks. Kara makes her way to her desk, sitting down before looking up at Lena. 

“Oh. Yeah, here.” Lena swears she hears Kara sigh, like she had said too much. “Kids were much more advanced back home. It’s not that they’re not smart here, we were just taught very differently. That's why I decided to become a teacher, I figured I could do some good with the methods we used.”

“You made the right choice, Kara. You’re wonderful.” Lena kicks herself. She was supposed to be flustering Kara, not loading her with compliments. Unfortunately though, it had come out like word vomit, quickly and unexpectedly. Lena had definitely not meant to say that, but she also wasn’t wrong. Kara  _ is  _ wonderful. 

Kara smiles genuinely at Lena, tilting her head and making Lena’s heart thud, “Thanks Lena, that means a lot.”

“I should probably get to work. I have a lot to do today.” Lena turns and walks away quickly, not giving herself the chance to say anything more. She is afraid she will keep doing whatever it is she had just done. She has always prided herself in having a thick wall and not letting people in. It's good for business. No one can manipulate her. In fact, she’s usually the manipulator, but when she is around Kara she can feel that wall crumbling down unlike it ever has before. She knows it's dangerous, allowing that to happen, especially with a woman she barely knows, but she can’t help but want to do it over and over again. 

On her way to work, Lena’s head is occupied with thoughts, mostly wondering what had happened at the school. She had gone in with the intention to mess with Kara, maybe make her blush a little. Instead she complimented her, and not in the sneaky way that made Kara melt. She figures she should shoot Kara a text after getting settled in to her office, apologizing for running off so quickly. She guesses she better find a valid excuse for it too. 

**To: Kara Danvers**

**Hi Kara.**

**I just wanted to apologize for running off so quickly this morning. I remembered I had an early meeting to prepare for and realized I was quite behind.**

**On another note, how about dinner Friday night?**

It isn’t until early afternoon when Lena receives a text back. She figures it’s probably lunch time for the kids, and for Kara too. 

**From: Kara Danvers**

**Hey Lena!**

**Don’t worry about it! I understand, you must be incredibly busy. I mean you run an entire company! That’s crazy!**

**And as for dinner, unfortunately I can’t do dinner on Friday. Since today is my birthday, my adoptive mom is throwing me a party this weekend in Midvale so Alex and I are heading there this weekend. I hope we can get together soon though?**

Lena immediately stands up and walks out of her office to her assistants desk. “Jess? Jess?” She asks, finally getting the woman’s attention. “Oh, sorry Miss Luthor. I was just taking my lunch. Is there a problem?” 

“Jess, what do you buy for your kids teacher for her birthday?” 

Jess raises an eyebrow, “Uh, I don't think it's customary to buy anything for your kids teachers birthday. An apple maybe? Don’t teachers like those?” 

Lena groans, before an idea pops into her head. “Jess! Can you have-” Lena stops. “What's her name?”

“I’m not sure who you’re referring to, Miss Luthor.” Jess sets her lunch down on her desk, realizing she was no longer on her way to lunch. 

“The lady who came into my office on monday asking for my gala guest list? Her daughter is in Marley’s class?” 

“Oh. Samantha Arias? Miss Luthor, you should really know her name. She holds the position right below you. She does a lot for L-Corp and she's been here for two years.” Jess reminds her, but Lena is clearly on a mission and disregards everything Jess said except the woman’s name. 

“Yes! Can you have Samantha Arias come to my office as soon as possible? Tell her it's urgent.”

Jess nods, “I’ll send her an email right now, and then I’m taking my lunch.”    
  
Lena smiles, “Take an extra half hour, Jess. You deserve it.” 

“Thanks, Miss Luthor,” Jess says, gratefully but still incredibly confused as to what is going on. 

Five minutes later there is a soft knock at Lena’s office door. “Come in!” Lena yells. Normally Jess is there to let whoever in, but this works just as well. 

“Miss Luthor, you wanted to see me?” Lena motions for the woman to come in, giving her a chance to look her up and down. It was the second time she was seeing her this week, but for some reason her face wouldn’t stick in her head. Or her name apparently. 

“Hi, Miss Arias. Take a seat.” Lena points to one of the chairs in front of her desk and Sam makes her way to the seat. 

“Is everything okay? Jess said it was urgent.” 

Lena nods, “Actually, I was just wondering, are you getting Kara anything for her birthday?” 

“Kara?” Sam asks, clearly confused. 

“Miss Danvers. Today is her birthday.” Lena states. That question sprouted a million questions that Sam would ask literally anyone other than her boss, instead she simply answers Lena’s question. “I didn’t know it was her birthday. I don't think it's necessary to get her anything, I don't really know her very well.” 

“Right! But what about from-” Lena pauses, wishing she could remember the child's name, “your daughter? Aren't you going to have her gift her anything?”

“No, I mean, I’m sure we’ll do a mug or something for Christmas but I don’t think a birthday gift is customary.” Sam replies, repeating what Jess had said. Lena ignores that.

Realizing that this conversation is already weird, Lena decides it won’t hurt to press a little more. “Okay, well if you were going to get her a gift what do you think? She's just the sweetest woman. Maybe a watch? Rose gold would look gorgeous with her skin tone. Or a necklace? Is that too much? Because I saw the most beautiful diamond moon necklace. A crescent. It made me think of her when I saw it, so maybe that's a good gift?” 

Sam is silent for a moment, clearly processing whatever it is that Lena just dropped on her. If she knew Lena better, she would have a lot to say, but she deems it unprofessional. “Miss Luthor, it seems you know her much better than I do, so if you insist on buying her something, do what you feel is right, whether that be a watch, a necklace, or just some flowers.” 

Lena nods and sighs, “I suppose you’re right, Miss Arias. I apologize for rambling.” Lena stands, heading to the door to open it for Sam. “Thank you for your help, let me know if you ever need anything.” Sam smiles, walking out of the room. 

After hours of disregarding her work and researching, Lena has finally found what she decides is a safe gift for Kara. The necklace because Lena can’t get it out of her head, some chocolates because she figures she would cater to the sweet tooth Kara has previously mentioned, and a bouquet of daisies and sunflowers because they both reminded her of a summer day, and Kara, she thinks, is the epitome of sunshine itself. 

Lena has it all delivered straight to her office so she can take it with her when she goes to pick Marley up from school. It really doesn’t take long for things to be delivered to Lena, as she is one of the most important people in National City. 

“Miss Luthor?” Jess says from the doorway, “You have a delivery.” 

“Oh good!” Lena says jumping up from her seat. “I decided on what to get Kara.” 

“Kara?” Jess asks. 

“Marley’s teacher!” 

“You’re on a first name basis with your kids teacher?” Jess asks, but Lena ignores her. 

“Okay, so what do you think? The flowers of course,” Lena picks up the vase, showing it to Jess. “I thought they would be perfect for her. Sunflowers especially because they attract sun. Kara has this blonde hair that always looks like the sun is just shining on it.” Lena then pulls out the chocolates. “She also always talks about her sweet tooth, so I figured chocolates. They’re imported from France, good right?” Jess nods, the suspicious look on her face going unnoticed by Lena. “And finally this necklace. It’s simple. Just a crescent moon with a diamond. It's the opposite of the sunflowers, but it reminded me of her. I don’t know, she's like a mystery I guess. She's so… sunny, but when she talks about her life it's full of tragedy. The moon just seemed perfect for her. Do you think she will like it?”

“Lena, are you okay?” Jess asks. She has known Lena for years, even before she took over L-Corp. She kept it as professional as possible at work, almost never using her first name, but she figures this calls for it. 

“What? You don't think she will like it?” Lena asks, panicked. 

“No, I think she will love it! Anyone would.” Jess reassures her. “She's Marley’s teacher. Don't you think this is a bit much?

Lena looks perplexed, “I don't know. I’ve never done this whole public school thing. I have no idea what's appropriate.” She tells her. 

“Are you sure that's all it is?” Jess asks, a little quieter than she had been talking, despite them being the only two on the floor. 

“I don't know what you’re talking about. It’s a present for Marley’s teacher. I want to show her gratitude for teaching my child.” 

“Lena, I think she will love it,” Jess says honestly, “But I also think you should figure out exactly what you're feeling for Marley’s teacher.” 

“Perfect! Thanks Jess!” Lena grins, ignoring the last part. Jess shakes her head, a small smile on her face. She isn’t entirely sure that Lena’s obvious crush on her daughter's teacher is appropriate, but it's really not her place to say that, and besides, she isn’t sure she has ever seen Lena smile like that. 

After arriving at Marley’s school, Lena decides to sit in the parking lot and wait for the parent pick-up to die down. Normally, the parents were required to go wait in the schools gymnasium and the children were released by classroom to their parents, but since Lena was somewhat of a public figure, Kara agreed to keep Marley in the classroom and Lena would retrieve her there to prevent causing a scene. Despite this, Lena likes to wait a few minutes before entering the school to avoid as many people as possible.

She loves how normal other people's lives look when just watching from the outside. She sees the moms and dad's, the grandmas and grandpas, all going into the school and coming out moments later with children. Sometimes just one, and sometimes what looks like an entire daycare. From the outside, it looks so simple, but so beautifully complex at the same time. 

After a while of admiring the families, Lena decides to go inside. She carries the flowers and the gift bag with her and as she gets closer, nerves begin to creep up on her. She wonders how weird this actually is, or if it is at all. She begins to think maybe she should just go put the gifts in the car and just give Kara the flowers, but when she turns the corner Kara and Marley are in the hallway and their eyes go to Lena right away. Lena takes a deep breath approaching her daughter and her daughter's teacher. 

“Happy birthday, Miss Danvers. Marley wanted to thank you for being such an excellent teacher.” Kara gapes, taking the flowers from Lena. 

“It’s your birthday?” Marley yells excitedly. “Mommy did you get any cake?” 

Lena laughs, ignoring your daughter. “Okay, so maybe Marley had nothing to do with it, but you don't have to tell anyone that.” 

“Lena, they’re beautiful, but you didn’t have to.” Kara says, walking into the classroom and setting the flowers down onto her desk. Lena extends her hand, giving the gift bag to the teacher. 

“How could I not?” Lena winks. “Go on, open it.” Kara pulls out the chocolates first and a big smile appears on her face. “They’re from France.” 

“That's amazing Lena, thank you. I'm sure they’re delicious.” 

“There's one more thing in the bag,” Lena tells her. Marley stands on her tiptoes trying to see exactly what it is in the bag, but fails. Kara pulls out the jewelry box, opening it carefully.

“Lena…” She says, upon seeing the necklace. “Lena, it's absolutely gorgeous. Gosh, how much did this cost? I can't accept this.” She looks up to Lena. 

Lena snorts, “I’m the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, Miss Danvers. Don't you worry about the price.” Kara laughs at this. “Can I put it on you?” Lena asks. “When I saw it, it made me think of you. I wasn’t sure, but Samantha Arias told me to go for it.” 

Kara nods, handing the necklace to Lena and turning around. “Samantha Arias? You know Ruby’s mother?” 

Lena’s hands move to Kara’s hair, moving it out of the way. Her knuckles barely graze Kara’s shoulder and what feels like a bolt of electricity shoots through her body. She curses herself for shaking so much as she attempts to clasp the necklace, but she eventually gets it. When Kara turns around Lena finds herself missing the touch, wishing she had gotten her a hundred necklaces just so she could do it over and over.

“She holds the position below me at L-Corp,” Lena tells her, still trying to recover.

Kara looks down at her necklace and back to Lena. “Lena, I don't know what to say. Thank you so much, I love it all.” 

“You don't have to say anything,” Lena makes eye contact with Kara before speaking again. “Just make sure you wear it for me.”

“Uh- yeah, I- of course, I will- I’ll wear it. For you. I will wear it for you.” Kara stumbles, causing Lena to smirk. 

“Marley and I have some errands to run, so we have to get going. Happy birthday, Kara.” Lena says before exiting the classroom, hand and hand with Marley. 

Kara stands there in silence, unable to move. What just happened? She really isn't sure. Whatever it was, she decides she definitely isn’t recovering from it anytime soon. 

After taking a few moments to regain her composure and pull herself together, Kara exhales, putting the chocolates and the empty jewelry box back into the gift bag. She quickly realizes she has not at all recovered from Lena and plops down into her desk chair, staring at the flowers Lena had gotten her.  _ Sunflowers and daisies.  _ Her absolute favorites. There's no way Lena could have known that. There's no way Lena could have known any of it. Not the flowers being her favorites, or the moon necklace that she never wants to take off, and the chocolates? Well, okay. She has definitely mentioned her sweet tooth once or twice, so that's fair. 

“Happy birthday!” Alex, Maggie, and Emmie enter the classroom with balloons. Emmie, even though she had spent the entire day with Kara, runs and gives her a hug. 

“Thanks, Em.” Kara laughs, kissing her niece's forehead. Kara stands up, going to hug Maggie first and then Alex.

“We’re taking you out to dinner, Maggie and I got the day off!” Alex tells her. “Get your stuff together, we’re going now.” 

“Okay, but I need to stop at my apartment. I have to drop off my flowers and maybe change.” 

“Oh yeah.” Alex says noticing the flowers. A menacing smile appears on Kara’s face. “Are they from that guy you were texting?”

Kara rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t texting anyone, Alex.” 

“Then who are they from?” Alex asks, an eyebrow raised clearly not believing her. 

“A student.” 

Alex picks up the gift bag, pulling out it's contents. “Did the student get you jewelry too? This is the most expensive jeweler in town, Kara, holy shit.” She looks up, noticing the necklace hanging from Kara’s neck. “Holy shit,” Alex repeats. “I’ve seen this necklace. Do you realize how much this thing costs?” Kara shrugs. “Like $500, Kara. For a necklace. I know it's from a guy. Why won't you tell me?” 

“Lena Luthor?” Maggie questions, leaning up against Kara’s desk, the card from the flowers in her hand.  _ Shit, she hadn’t realized there was a card.  _ Alex looks up to Maggie questioningly and Maggie reads the card aloud. “‘ _ I hope you like the necklace enough to wear it to dinner on Tuesday night. Reservations are made, Miss Danvers _ .’ Signed, ‘ _ Lena Luthor’” _

“Are you friends with Lena Luthor, Kara?” Alex’s voice is slightly raised. Maggie, still leaning up against the desk looks  _ very  _ amused and Kara manages to send her a dirty look. “I told you to leave that situation alone.” 

“And I am! She's nice, we just hang out sometimes!” Kara says, not completely lying. 

“If it wasn’t your birthday we would so be having a talk right now,” Alex says. “Tomorrow.” Kara nods, just thanking Rao that she wasn’t reading more into the situation, not that there was more to read into. “Come on, we have a dinner to get to.” Alex walks out with Emmie, balloons and flower in hand, leaving Maggie and Kara behind. 

Kara begins to follow Alex and Emmie, but Maggie places a hand on Kara’s shoulder stopping her. “You know, kid, if you’re messing around with Lena Luthor you need to be careful,” She smiles at Kara understandingly. 

Keeping her voice low, she looks at Maggie, “I’m not messing around with Lena Luthor! We just hang out!” Kara crosses her arms and sighs, “Don't say anything to Alex.” 

“So you are messing around with her?” Maggie asks.

“No! I’m not gay!” Kara says, a little too defensively causing Maggie to snort. 

“Yeah, okay Little Danver’s. Don't worry, I won't say a word to Alex. Just make sure you’re careful.” Kara nods, giving up on the conversation with Maggie. She is entirely too confused with herself and with Lena to have any idea about what actually is going on, but those are thoughts for another time. 

As upset with the whole Lena situation as Alex is, she puts it aside for dinner. She can never truly be mad at Kara and she would never let something like this affect Kara’s special day, so even though she can’t stop staring at the necklace hanging around her sister’s neck, she doesn’t mention again. Seriously though? $500? She really hopes Lena Luthor isn’t trying to buy her little sister off or something. She’d hate to have to hurt the most powerful woman in National City. 

Kara, on the other hand, can’t get her mind off Lena for the entire dinner. More specifically what Maggie had said about Lena. She probably would have been fine, not thinking about it and enjoying her dinner with her sisters and her niece, but of course Maggie had to make assumptions. 

Clearly Kara is not gay. She has never even shown interest in a woman. Then again, she thinks, she's never really shown interest in anyone. As a young teenager she was too busy dealing with the trauma that came with her planet dying and having to go to an entire new planet to live with strangers. Not to mention the whole phantom zone situation. And then as soon as she maybe would have been okay with exploring that side of herself, Lex Luthor happened, and of course that took years of therapy to even begin processing that situation. She was just now at a point in her life where she knew how to deal with her own trauma and live a somewhat normal life. How would she know what she likes?

Of course it was different on Krypton. Unlike earth, sexuality was non-existent, as was gender and race. You simply existed. You fell in love with whomever you fell in love with, there was no gay or straight, and definitely no coming out. Unfortunately for Kara though, at this point in her life, she has been on earth as long as she was on Krypton, and even though certain values were instilled on her at a young age while she was there, she was still heavily swayed by Earth's society. 

It's not that she has any issues with being gay or straight, or not choosing an identity at all and just living life, it's just that she isn’t sure what she wants, or who she is meant to be with. It’s like krypton's values and earth's values were both thrown into a bowl, jumbled up, and instilled in Kara in an attempt to make her life as confusing as possible.

She gets back to her apartment around seven that night. Just enough time for her to get in her coziest pajamas, sneak another piece of cake, and finish up her lesson plan for the next week. 

She's nearly falling asleep when her phone chimes. 

**From: Lena Luthor :)**

**Happy Birthday again, Kara. I hope you had a wonderful night.**

**Did you get my card?**

As soon as Lena sends the text to Kara, she stands up. She had been sitting comfortably on the couch for some time now, drinking her tea, and watching what most would consider trashy television. She planned on texting Kara but nearly forgot until she saw the email confirmation for the reservation she had made for the following Tuesday. 

**From: Kara Danvers**

**I did get your card and I am absolutely up for dinner on Tuesday. But a reservation? That sounds fancy. Where exactly are you taking me?**

**And thanks again for today :)**

Lena folds up her blanket and sets her mug in the sink before answering Kara. 

**To: Kara Danvers**

**A brazillian steakhouse. It’s a buffet, I figured you would like it. It's all on me, dessert and all. I can even get a babysitter. You hang out with Marley all day. Maybe some adult time is needed ;)**

Lena rereads her text and laughs. It was the second text she had sent Kara a text that had a double meaning, by accident, of course. She doesn’t correct herself this time, hoping it messes with Kara a bit. She plugs her phone in and sets it on her nightstand, pulling back her sheets when it occurs to her that she hasn’t checked on Marley all night, so before getting into bed she makes her way to her daughter's room and pushes open the door. 

What Lena sees makes her stomach drop, her worst fear all of the sudden smacking her in the face. For years she hoped this wasn’t the case. She had even moved past it a bit after years of doctor appointments. Nothing was abnormal about Marley Luthor, nothing detectable by the doctor anyway. 

But despite all that, there is Marley Luthor, floating above her bed, still fast asleep. 

Leaving Lena absolutely horrified. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments on the last chapter! Please leave another comment telling me how you liked this one! :)


	5. Lead Lined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara visits Eliza in Midvale and Marley has a doctors appointment.

Kara isn’t sure what she would do without the focusing techniques that Jeremiah taught her when she first got to Earth. She uses them constantly, a lot of the time without even realizing it. She's currently focused on the buzzing of the car as it rolls down the road, trying to ignore how much she despises long drives. She trusts Alex to drive but it doesn’t really prevent her from feeling out of control. The short drives, especially when she's the one driving, she can do. It’s the hours on end in the car that make her feel that powerless feeling that she felt constantly for her first year on Earth. 

“You know,” Kara starts, sitting forward in her seat. She is in the back with Emmie, while Alex and Maggie are in the front. “I could have gotten us there way quicker by flying.” 

“There's no way you could have carried all of us  _ and  _ our stuff.” Alex says.

“Maybe not, but I could make multiple trips and still be there before we can in the car.” 

In the rearview mirror Kara watches Alex roll her eyes clearly amused, “Just sit back and enjoy the music Kara, we’re only like 10 minutes away now.” 

That news pleased Kara, not that she didn’t already know that just by looking at her surroundings, but what surprised her was that she had been in the car for nearly four hours and barely noticed. She just couldn't stop thinking about Lena and Marley.

Lena had sent Kara a text in the early hours of the morning saying that Marley was ill and would not be attending school and it left her feeling a little bit disappointed. Above all of her own personal feelings she hopes Marley is okay but she has begun looking forward to morning drop-offs and seeing Lena. She considers her a friend and it is the first time Kara made a friend without someone else introducing her. All of her friends were initially Alex’s friends and it felt good having someone all to herself. She will share her eventually, she thinks. Maybe when Alex comes around to the whole Lena Luthor idea. She could daydream for hours about Lena and Marley joining them for game night, partnering up with her and dominating Alex and Maggie in scrabble. She has a feeling Lena might be good at that game. For now though, she's for Kara only and she finds an equal amount of pleasure in that and she can only hope Lena feels the same way. She thinks maybe she does and she looks down and plays with the necklace that Lena got her for her birthday. She has yet to take it off except for to shower. It's the most beautiful necklace Kara has ever seen and she can’t believe that Lena Luthor had taken the time out of her day to pick it out and bring it to her. Although maybe that's normal, she thinks. If her other students' parents knew it was her birthday, maybe they would have gotten her gifts as well. Something deep inside of Kara wishes that that is not the case. 

“Kara? Earth to Kara?” The voice pulls Kara out of her daydream state and she let's go of her necklace and looks up. It’s Maggie and she's smirking like she knows something that no one else knows. “We’re here.” 

Kara side eyes Maggie, choosing to not acknowledge her smug look and she gets out of the car, stretching before heading to the trunk. 

“Aunt Kara, can you carry my bag?” Emmie pouts. She drops her duffel bag on the ground at Kara’s feet. “I already have too much.” She's carrying a stuffed elephant in one hand and her backpack is on her back. 

Kara laughs at her nieces' dramatics, “Of course I can.” She pulls out her own suitcase and a few other things before picking up Emmie’s bag and dragging it all to the house. Eliza is waiting excitedly at the door and Emmie runs ahead everyone else, clearly excited to see her grandma. 

“Grandma!” Emmie yells, wrapping her arms around Eliza’s waist. Eliza grins, kneeling down to give her granddaughter a proper hug. 

“Oh, my Emmie. I missed you sweetie.”

“I missed you more Grandma,” Emmie giggles. Eliza stands up, letting Emmie into the house and preparing to greet Kara, Alex and Maggie. After they are all inside and the door is shut behind them, Eliza smiles warmly. 

“I miss having a full house like this.” 

“We miss being here. You know we would come more often if someone would let me fly,” Kara says, looking at Alex.

Eliza laughs softly, “Well Kara you are more than welcome to fly yourself here anytime you would like. I miss having my girls around.” 

“I would love to fly us both here more often,” Kara says. “What's the harm, Alex? We flew together all the time as kids!” 

“Okay, Mom definitely wasn’t supposed to know that, Kara.” Alex says and Eliza shoots them a knowing glare. Of course she had known what they were doing, and as long as they were being safe, she didn’t say anything because she wanted Kara to feel comfortable exploring herself. She finds herself regretting it after what happened, but they will never know how Lex discovered Kara so she tries not to blame herself. “I’ll think about it.” Alex finally replies. 

“Yes!” Kara jumps up and down, running over to hug Eliza again. “I really miss you, Eliza.” 

“I miss you too, dear.” She places a motherly kiss on Kara’s forehead, hugging her tighter. “Oh, that's a pretty necklace. Where did you get that?” 

Kara stiffens. “Go on, tell her!” Alex pushes. 

“I got it from a student. A gift for my birthday.” 

“And what student?” Alex asks, sitting down at the kitchen table. 

“The students name is Marley.” Kara replies, glaring at Alex. 

Alex groans, “Mom, Kara is friends with Lena Luthor!” 

“Alex!” Maggie and Kara say at the same time. There's a moment of silence before anyone speaks again.

“We can talk about it later, Kara.” Eliza says softly to Kara, then looking to Alex, “But ultimately, Alex, I trust Kara and her decisions. Your sister is an adult and she can come to me on her own time about things.” 

“We can talk about it now. All of us,” Kara announces. “I want to set the record straight, I’m tired of feeling like there is always something being unsaid when I’m around you Alex.” 

“I’ll take Emmie to her room,” Maggie says, ushering Emmie up the stairs. Emmie’s room is Jeremiah’s old office, although you would never be able to tell. Eliza renovated it completely into a nursery when Alex got pregnant and they decided the best thing would be for Alex to continue going to college in National City while Eliza raised Emmie. People around town judged Eliza and Alex for their decision to separate a mother and a baby, but Alex getting pregnant was never meant to happen and Eliza decided that her daughter had experienced enough trauma going through with the pregnancy. The safest thing to do for both Alex and Emmie was to allow Eliza to care for her and let Alex continue her schooling, and so that is what they did. 

Now, all sitting at the table, Kara takes a deep breath. “First, I want to start off by saying that above all else, Lena Luthor is just my student's parent. I have only known her since the beginning of the week, but she has had nothing but good intentions.”

“Kara you-” Alex starts, but Kara interrupts her. “Let me finish, Alex. Lena was hesitant to put her daughter into a public school so that's why we had our initial meeting. Lena was incredibly generous and wanted to know how she could help fund some amazing programs in our school so I gave her the principals contact information. We had dinner at my apartment to discuss the grant and it turned out she was just good company. We talked about a lot of things while Emmie and Marley played. She's a good person, she's proven that to me.” 

“I’m sorry, you had her over with Emmie there and you didn't ask me first?” Alex asked.

“I didn’t realize my dinner guests were of your concern,” Kara says flatly. 

“It is when it's Lena Luthor!” Alex yells back, standing up. 

Kara stands up too, looking at her sister, “Because you have prejudices against her because of her last name!”

“Girls, sit down,” Eliza says. They both do, looking at their mother nervously. It was a rare occasion that Eliza had to put them in check because of their arguing and it reminded Kara of them being teenagers. “Alex, you need to trust your sister. She is not the naive little girl that you see her as.” Eliza then looks to Kara, “Kara, maybe give you sister a heads up next time you have Emmie and Lena is coming over to your apartment. I know you trust her, but Alex doesn’t know her and is only afraid because she wants to protect you two.”

Kara sighs, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, Alex. I really didn’t think about it that way.” 

Alex looks down, clearly feeling guilty at how she has gone about the situation. “I’m sorry too, Kara. I know you’re not a little kid, but I do worry about you. I can’t let anything happen to you again.” 

_ “I wish you didn’t have to go back to National City today.” A fourteen year old Kara says.  _

_ “I know, me either. I'll be back for Thanksgiving though, and you can always take a bus to National City to come see me.”  _

_ “Or I can fly!” Kara suggests, excitedly.  _

_ “You know Mom would never let you.” Alex laughs.  _

_ “She doesn’t have to know. I could be there and back without her ever suspecting a thing.”  _

_ “I think you think you’re a lot more sneaky than you are, Kara.” Alex laughs. _

_ Kara and Alex focus back on their movie. They decided to watch one a day for Alex’s entire summer break and this was the last one on their list. Alice in Wonderland. Kara has loved this movie from the first time she saw it.  _

_ She watches it, totally enamored, not able to remove her eyes from the screen. If she has to choose her favorite story on Earth, she would choose this one without a doubt. A loud crash from the back of the house was the only thing that was enough for Kara to pull her eyes away from the screen.  _

_ “What was that? Mom and Dad won’t be home for an hour.” Alex jumps up from the couch, ready to take action. Another loud bang shakes the house and paralyzes Alex in fear. Kara lowers her glasses, scanning the house and gulps, she didn’t know who it was, but she knew exactly why they were here. Using her superspeed, she grabs Alex and takes her into the basement. “Kara what are you doing?” Alex nearly yells, before remembering to not draw attention.  _

_ “Protecting you. I love you Alex.” Kara says simply before returning to the spot in the living room she had been in with Alex. Whoever it was, was here for Kara, and by the looks of things, wasn’t going to leave any witnesses. She could handle herself, but she wasn't going to put Alex in danger.  _

_ Seconds later, before she could even process anything, she is in restraints. “Superman's little cousin.” The man sneers. “What's your name, darling?” Kara stays silent, not willing to give up anything without a fight. “That's alright. We’ll get it eventually.”  _

_ With that, Kara is made unconscious by something she is unfamiliar with and they’re gone, with no proof they were there in the first place.  _

_ An hour later Alex hears footsteps again and eventually voices. “Alex? Kara?” It's Eliza.  _

_ “Mom?” She yells back, hesitantly climbing the stairs.  _

_ “Alex?” Eliza opens the basement door. “What are you doing down there? Where’s Kara?”  _

_ Alex bursts into tears and Eliza immediately knows something had gone terribly wrong. _

Alex forces herself from thinking about what had happened too much because her sister is here, sitting at the table with her and her mother. She's safe. “Maybe, if you decide you being friends with her is going to be a more permanent thing, we could all get together and see what's so great about Lena Luthor that you trust her so easily.” 

At this Kara beams, “Oh, you’ll love her Alex. She’s so funny. And smart! You two can talk about smart people things together!” 

Alex chuckles. “Whatever makes you happy, Kara.” 

“I thought when you two grew up, I would be so lonely knowing nobody needed me anymore, but apparently you two still do need a mediator sometimes.” 

“We’ll always need you, Mom.” Alex says and Kara nods in agreement. 

“I think right now you need me to serve dinner. I’ve only been slaving in the kitchen all day!”

Before getting up to help Eliza set the table for dinner, Kara sends a quick text to Lena to check on Marley. 

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

**Hey Lena. How’s Marley? Feeling any better?**

Lena hears her phone go off, but ignores it as she and Marley are walking into Dr. Gatica’s office. 

“Momma, why are we coming here again?” She hasn’t talked to Marley about what she saw. She isn’t even sure if Marley knew it was happening and she didn’t want to scare her. 

“We’ll talk about it when we’re in there.” Lena tells her. She has been panicking all day waiting to take Marley into the doctor. She would have taken her during the day, but she decided she needed as much privacy as possible for this subject. The doctor was waiting for them in the waiting room with concern. Lena had called that morning nearly in tears, but didn’t really explain what was going on. 

“Hi Lena, Hi Marley. We’re going to head back to room one, okay?” Dr. Gatica says. 

“Dr. Gatica, can I speak to you in private somewhere?” Lena asks, the urgency clear in her voice. 

The doctor nods, “Marley why don't you take a seat in here and we’ll come get you in a moment?” She opens the separate door to the child waiting room that is filled with toys and then leads Lena to the examination room. 

“What's going on, Lena?” She asks, worried. 

“I saw Marley floating last night.” 

“Can you tell me exactly what happened? Don't leave out any details.” 

“I put Marley to bed around nine. I cleaned the house and relaxed. I went to check on her before I went to bed around eleven. When I opened her door, she was floating. She was still asleep, just hovering above her bed.” 

“She was sleeping? Was she aware before today that she is doing this at night?” Dr. Gatica asks. 

Lena shakes her head, “I haven't even told her why we’re here. I don't want to scare her.” 

“Lena do you trust me?” Lena nods. “I want you to go talk to Marley and find out what she knows. I’m going to give someone a call. An alien doctor.” 

“They won't let this get out will they?” 

“Patient confidentiality is taken even more seriously amongst aliens. We know how dangerous it is, Lena. Trust me. And go talk to Marley.” 

Lena makes her way to the waiting room and finds Marley sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head tucked between them. “Marley?” Lena asks softly. 

Marley pulls her head up and looks to Lena, her eyes teary. “You saw me, Momma?” 

“What baby?” Lena asks, sitting on the floor next to her daughter.

“I heard what you said. Am I in trouble?” 

“What? Marley, no. You’re not in trouble. Mommy just needs to make sure you are safe and healthy, okay?” Marley nods and Lena puts an arm around her. “Marls, you knew this was happening?” 

Marley nods again, “I did it the first time before I went to school. It scared me, Mommy.” 

“Why didn't you tell me?” 

“I thought you wouldn’t love me anymore.” Marley cries into Lena’s chest. 

“Oh baby, I will always love you. You can come to me with anything. All I want to do is protect you Marley.” 

They sit like this for a few minutes before Dr. Gatica opens the door slowly, “The doctor is on their way. Why don't you guys come into the exam room so we can figure some things out?” Lena and Marley follow Dr. Gatica and settle into the exam room. 

“I heard you’ve been floating, Marley. That's kind of cool!” She says with a smile, making Marley immediately feel better. She gives the doctor a shrug. “Is there anything else you’ve noticed that might not be normal?” 

“She heard our conversation,” Lena says. “From the waiting room. She knew we were talking about her floating.” 

Dr. Gatica looks to Marley for confirmation and she nods. “I always hear everything.”    
  
“Anything else?” Just then, Dr. Gatica’s phone rings. “He must be here.” 

“That was fast.” Lena comments. 

“I told him it was urgent. He came right away.” She replies before exiting the room to find the other doctor. 

  
“Marls, we’re going to meet with another doctor who can help figure this out.” 

“She called him an alien doctor. I’m an alien?” 

“Well, I don't know. We do know flying is certainly abnormal though, so he can help us figure out why it's happening to you.” 

“Is it a bad thing Momma?” 

Lena sighs, hoping that she didn’t insinuate that it was. She never wants to make her daughter feel ashamed of who she is. “No baby. It's not bad.” She decides to be honest with Marley about why it's a big deal though. “But some people feel threatened by people who can do those kinds of things and they try and find ways to hurt them. We just have to protect you.”

A moment later Dr. Gatica returns, this time with the other doctor. Based on his appearance, it's obvious he isn’t human. 

“Lena, Marley, this is Dr. Q’in. Dr. Q’in, this is Lena and Marley Luthor.” 

“Hi, Ms. Luthor. It’s nice to meet you.” He greets, shaking her hand. “And Marley, it’s nice to meet you as well.”

“We took a moment to go over abnormalities and other than the floating they have noticed intensified hearing as well.” Dr. Gatica tells the other doctor. 

“Abnormal has such negative underlying tones. Why don't we call them atypical features, or even better,” He looks to Marley, “Extraordinary.” 

Marley grins and giggles a bit. “I like that.” 

“So floating, huh?” He asks. “It happens while she's asleep?” Lena nods. “Marley, have you ever tried doing it while you’re awake?” 

Marley shakes her head. “I’m too afraid to.” 

“In a little bit I’m going to have you try some things. I think it’s important you know how to control these things. Let's talk about this hearing first.” 

“There's been many instances of this now that I think of it, but most recently, she was able to hear mine and Dr. Gatica’s conversation from the waiting room.” 

Dr. Q’in nods. “Dr. Gatica, why don't you take Marley into another room? I'd like to test this.” She nods and Marley stands up. “Marley, I’m going to be reading random words and definitions from this dictionary. After I read them, you’ll come back into the room and recite them back to me, okay?” 

Dr. Gatica takes Marley out of the room and to the main waiting room. 

“Alright Lena, I’m just going to pick a random word and read it aloud.” He fans through the book, picking a random place and clears his throat. “Depart; Verb; To go away or leave.” After saying the definition he sets the dictionary down on the counter closing it, and opening the door. 

Marley and Dr. Gatica show up at the door a second later. “Depart; Verb; To go away or leave.” Marley grins. 

“Impressive,” Dr. Q’in says. “Let's do another one. Take her farther away this time.” 

Marley and Dr. Gatica make way to the furthest and most isolated room in the office and Dr. Gatica yells that they’re ready. “Ms.Luthor, why don't you read one?” 

Lena nods and flips through the book, landing on a page and choosing the first word. “Reputation; Noun; The estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public.” 

“Nice,” Dr. Q’in comments. “That's a hard one.” 

“Reputation!” Marley yells excitedly approaching the door. “Noun; The estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public.” She looks at Dr. Q’in. “That wasn’t a hard one.” 

After a few more trials Dr. Q’in is pleased and has Marley sit back down in the examination room. He does the normal doctor things, like weight and height, body temperature, blood pressure, and reflexes. 

“Ms. Luthor, I hate to ask, but do you know who Marley’s father is?” Lena sighs, realizing she would have to tell the doctor the truth, and now, Marley too. Marley knows she is adopted, but nothing more. She figures even sending Marley out of the room won't work because of how easily she can eavesdrop.

“I’m not Marley’s biological mother. I can’t be 100% certain, but I believe my brother is her biological father. My guess is that Marley is the result of some sort of experiment that my brother was trying.” 

“If it's alright, I’d like to do my own testing on Marley’s blood samples and I would like to take some from you too, to confirm who her father is. I should disclose that I work closely with a government agency that specializes in aliens, but I am not required to give them my records so Marley’s identity will stay safe. I can look through our databases and compare her DNA and figure out exactly what it is that is causing this.” 

“So you think she does have alien DNA?” Lena asks. 

“I think it's more probable than not. I don't want to make assumptions, Ms. Luthor, but we are obviously well aware of who your brother is and I wouldn’t put it past him to dabble with alien DNA. Especially a certain someone's DNA. However, if that is true, that would make it impossible for your brother to be the biological father of Marley. I will figure it out for you, but it may take a couple of days.”

Lena knew exactly what he meant when he said ‘a certain someone’ and she can't believe that she's never thought of that. How she hasn’t, she can’t figure it out. Part of her thinks that maybe she didn’t think about the possibility on purpose. “You think she's kryptonian.” She says blankly. 

“I think it's a possibility. Let's not focus on what she is or isn’t right now. Let's focus on what we can do to help Marley.” 

Lena looks to Marley who was obviously attempting to process everything that was said. “Marls, are you okay?” She nods, but Lena doesn’t buy it and looks up to Dr. Q’in. “I think she's done for today. Maybe we could continue this after you look at her DNA?” 

“We can do that, but Lena, remember to stay calm. What you’re seeing now is probably all you’re going to see for a while. No matter what she is she is going to grow into more abilities, but not until later.” 

“And what do I do for now? When this gets overwhelming for her?” 

“Physically?” He starts. “I’ve only heard rumors, but apparently superman uses lead-lined glasses to suppress his powers when he isn’t using them. And emotionally, Lena, just make sure you remind her she's loved and safe.” 

“Thank you,” Lena says. 

“Let's get your blood drawn and you two can go home,” He says. 

After getting her blood taken, Lena says her goodbyes and thanks Dr. Gatica and Dr. Q’in for their help and takes Marley to the car. 

“You have a brother?” Marley asks. She has never even thought about her mother’s family before. It had always been just the two of them. 

“Had. A long time ago, sweetie. When mommy was a kid.” 

“And he might be my dad?” 

“Biological father.” Lena corrects her. “Not your dad. Everyone has a biological mother and a biological father. It doesn’t make them your parents.” 

“Does that mean you’re my aunt?” 

“I’m your mom. I raised you.” 

Marley waits to respond until Lena walks around to the other side of the car and gets in. “Just like that lady was your mom?” 

“Hmm?” Lena asks. 

“The lady who came to our house. You called her mother.” 

It hits Lena just then that Marley was obviously able to hear her conversation with Lillian. “Step-mother. She was married to my dad. My mom died when I was young.” 

“So is she my grandma?” Marley asks. 

“No Marley, and if you ever see her you tell someone right away. You are not to go near her. Is that understood?” Lena feels immediate guilt after losing her patience with Marley, but it is all too much. All in less than twenty four hours she has found her daughter floating, learned she basically has super hearing and might be part kryptonian, told Marley, and two doctors about how Marley has come to exist, and now Marley wants an entire family tree. 

Marley is silent for a while before speaking up again. “Where are we going?” 

“We’re going to L-Corp. I need to do some things.”

Lena decided at the doctor's office to make a pit stop at L-Corp to look at Lex’s files she had locked away. She never figured she would want or need the information on superman but she is glad she saved it.

First she takes the elevator up to the top floor, where her office is. 

“Hi Jess,” Lena says, after getting off the elevator, hand and hand with Marley. 

“Hi Ms. Luthor, Marley.” Jess greets them, getting up from her desk. “I wasn’t expecting you today when you called in and said Marley was sick.” 

“Yeah, about that, I need to go find some files. I’m going to put Marley in my office and play a movie for her. Will you check on her every once in a while?” 

“Of course. If you want to get started I can get her set up in your office,” Jess offers. 

“Thanks Jess,” Lena says, making her way back to the elevators, but walking past them. Lex’s files aren’t kept anywhere in the building that is accessible to anyone but her. She scans her card at a door and it opens to a small room, where a single elevator stands. She scans her fingerprint and the elevator opens. She steps inside and presses the down arrow. It's a long way down. There are thirty-six main floors in L-Corp, plus the basement. The room Lena keeps Lex’s files in is one story beneath the basement. 

The elevator dings and Lena steps out, into a room similar to the one where she got into the elevator. She presses the button on the door and lets the scanner scan her face. Seconds later, the door pops open and she walks through, making her way down a long corridor. There are dozens of doors down here, only one of them containing the files. The others are fail safes, and if anyone tries to open any of them, a 15-second countdown begins. At the end of the 15 seconds, the room containing Lex’s files burst into flames, destroying them in seconds. It also places the entire L-Corp building on a maximum lockdown until Lena herself lifts it. 

When Lena gets to the correct door, she pulls out a key and unlocks it. After entering, she presses a red button and reads her name aloud. Once her identity is confirmed, the lights turn on and the lasers protecting Lex’s files turn off. 

There are hundreds of boxes lining the room. She would be intimidated but if nothing else, Lex was a very organized person. She figures she should be able to find everything she's looking for in under a half hour.

Twenty minutes into reading many specific details about superman Lena finally finds a piece of information that helps her, something that Dr. Q’in had mentioned earlier. 

_ Superman’s Human Alternate Identity  _

_ Interview with subject #07:  _

_ Lex: What do you know about Superman’s Alternate Identity? The human one.  _

_ S7: I don't know anything. I’ve never even met Superman, let alone his other identity, if he even has one.  _

_ Lex: It's barely even a conspiracy anymore. We know he does, and I know you know plenty about it.  _

_ S7: Even if I did, why would I give it up to you?  _

_ Lex: Probably because I can do this. Eve, Initiate shock.  _

_ S7: *Screams, 14 seconds* I don't know anything.  _

_ Lex: Eve, why don't you go ahead and up the voltage on that?  _

_ S7: *Screams, 19 seconds* The only thing I know is something I’ve heard from others.  _

_ Lex: Go on.  _

_ S7: His disguise. He wears lead lined glasses. It makes his powers go away or something, and it covers his face.  _

_ Lex: What else?  _

_ S7: That's all I know! I swear.  _

_ Lex: Eve!  _

Lena puts the paper back into the file, not wanting to read another word. She got what she came for. Dr. Q’in was right about the glasses. That's all she needs to know. 

Lena decides that she's going to have to make Marley some glasses. She can’t call and just order a pair of lead lined glasses. That would definitely be suspicious. She figures the most efficient way to go about this is to take a pair of normal glasses and somehow get the lead inside of them. 

The hike from the room with Lex’s files to Lena’s personal lab takes nearly twenty minutes. She stops and checks on Marley on the way but it doesn’t take her longer than a few minutes to do that. Once she gets to her lab she begins working, letting the minutes pass by.

A few hours into many attempts at lining the glasses she had delivered to L-Corp with lead, she has nearly perfected them. Her focus is so intense that she doesn’t even notice Jess standing next to her. 

“Lena?” 

Lena jumps, clutching her chest. “Jess! You shouldn’t walk up with someone holding a blowtorch.” 

“I ordered Marley some dinner about an hour ago. She's fine, but are you? You know it's nearly eight.” 

“I’m almost done. I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t mean to force you to babysit my kid. I’m just trying to make her some glasses.”

Jess raises her eyebrow inquisitively, “Make her glasses? You know you can just go to the eye doctor. They do that for you.”

Lena sighs, “I wish I could explain. Just don't mention this to anyone, okay?” Lena takes the tray with what she hopes is the perfected glasses and puts them in the cooling freezer. “And here,” Lena walks to her purse, pulling out a 100 dollar bill. “It’s all I have on me in cash, but I’ll put a bonus in your next check for watching her.” 

“Maybe I should quit being your assistant and just nanny for you,” She jokes. “It's fine, really Lena. You know I love spending time with her.”

“Just take it. You have no idea how much I appreciate you.”

Jess smiles, tucking the bill into her pocket. “I’ll meet you back in your office.” 

Lena returns back to the cooling freezer and pulls out the tray. From what she can tell, they’re fine. They look like normal glasses and they feel like normal glasses. Lena is pleased with this and heads to the elevator to find Marley. 

“Hi Mommy.” Marley says when Lena walks in. 

“Hey baby. Remember what Dr. Q’in said about glasses earlier?” She asks and Marley gives her a nod. “I made you these. I want you to try them on and see if they make it a little easier for you to focus.” 

Marley takes them from Lena, sliding them onto her face. She looks around blinking for a minute. “It’s so quiet now.” 

“Is that good?” Lena asks, nervous that Marley didn’t like them. 

She nods. “It feels good.” 

Lena lets out a sigh of relief. That's exactly what she wanted to hear. She's thrilled she could help her daughter. It made this entire day a little bit better, regaining back some of the control she had lost. 

It helps that Marley looks entirely too cute in her new glasses. It reminds Lena of someone, too. She just can’t figure out who. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for sticking around for five chapters! I'm really getting excited for this fanfic! 
> 
> If I'm being honest, I'm a little hesitant to publish this chapter. Despite it being the longest one yet, I feel like the storyline was rushed. I rewrote the ending about 3 times, but I just haven't been happy about it yet. I'm sorry if you don't enjoy this chapter as much. I'm going to take a little more time to plan and write chapter six and hopefully create something that I'm content with before publishing!


	6. The Truth Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You've got it bad, Lena Luthor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the encouragement on the previous chapter! I wasn't expecting to only take a week to write this, but I've been writing every free chance I get (which isn't very often). I hope you guys enjoy this update and stay tuned for the next! Chapter 7 is going to be WILD.

_____

“Are you ready to go, Kara?” Alex asks, nudging her sister. 

“I think I might stay. For tonight anyway. I’ll fly home before work in the morning.” Kara tells Alex. She isn’t ready to leave, at all. Every time she comes back to Midvale she has trouble forcing herself to leave again. It was the first place she called home after coming to Earth. It was the first place she was loved and cared for and welcomed with open arms. It’s the closest thing she has to call home. 

“Are you sure? When’s the last time you flew?” 

“I’ll be okay.” Kara tells her. Alex simply nods and gives her sister a quick hug before taking her own stuff to the car. 

Kara shares another hug with Alex and then one with Maggie and Emmie before they leave despite knowing she will see them tomorrow. 

“Couldn’t leave me?” Eliza asks. 

“I just miss being home. Lifes been confusing lately. It feels good to be here.” 

Eliza chuckles, putting an arm around Kara. “Was it any less confusing being here?” 

“No, maybe not, but I always had you, and Jeremiah, and Alex when she was here. I know I have people in National City, but sometimes I just want a motherly hug. Is it bad that I call it that?” Kara has always had a feeling of guilt when it came to Eliza. She loves her like a mother and she knows when her mom sent her to Earth that day, that it's exactly what she wanted for Kara, but she can’t help but feel as if she is doing something wrong by thinking of Eliza in that way. 

Eliza leads Kara to the living room, sitting on the couch. “Oh, Kara. I told you this when you first came here and many times after it, but I’ll tell you again. I will never replace your mother, you don't have to feel guilty about that. I do, however, hope I can step in for her since she can’t be here and provide you with the same comfort and love she would want to be giving you. I love you like you’re my own.”

Kara lays her head on Eliza’s shoulder, allowing herself to be comforted by her scent. “You always make me feel better.” 

Eliza places a kiss on Kara’s forehead, taking in the moment with Kara. From the day she first saw Kara, she immediately felt a strong desire to protect and love her. Some days were extremely hard, dealing with a young teenager who had lost everything, from her family and her home to the one task she was sent to Earth to do; care for her baby cousin. Kara was depressed and without purpose and it broke Eliza’s heart. She always kept in mind that the hard days for her were even harder for Kara. “How does a slice of pie sound?” 

“Perfect.” Kara responds, grinning. They move from the couch to the kitchen table where Eliza serves them both apple pie. A small piece for herself and a large one for Kara. 

“We never got a chance to talk about the Lena Luthor situation without Alex,” Eliza says. “We don't have to, but if there is something you want to talk about, then I’m here.” 

“Actually,” Kara starts, taking a bite of her pie before continuing. “I could use some advice on a few things.” 

“That's what I’m here for.” 

“Well, first I guess right now the situation with Alex is bothering me the most. I know she's afraid, I understand that, but when Lex kidnapped me, I was the one experiencing everything. I know Alex was here with you and Jeremiah trying to find me, but I was the one being experimented on and tortured, Eliza. If I can trust Lena, why can't she?” 

“Maybe part of her fear is the unknown, Kara. You experienced it first-hand. You know who was involved. Alex doesn’t have the same information in her head. All she knows is that Lena Luthor is the sibling to the man who hurt her little sister.” 

“But she would see that she is so much more than that if she got to know her!” 

“So give her time. She’ll come around.”

Kara takes a moment to finish her pie before moving on, and when she does finish it, Eliza serves her another piece. 

“You know me so well.” Kara is silent for a moment, wondering if she actually wants to bring up this topic, especially after Maggie’s constant secret teasing throughout the weekend. “Do you think it's weird that Lena got me birthday gifts?” 

“You’re friends, aren’t you?” Eliza asks. 

“Well, yeah, I would call us that, but we haven’t actually discussed it. Besides, I’ve only known her since the beginning of the week.” 

“Maybe she's just overly generous.” Eliza suggests. “Is Alex making you question that?” Kara nods. “I know she can be a bit of a pessimist. She's extra cautious about everything, but it's just her nature. You’re the most optimistic person I know, Kara. Always be cautious, but don’t lose that optimism because of your sister.”

“The necklace was like 500 dollars though. Isn’t that weird that someone I barely know spent that much money on me?” 

Eliza chuckles, “Yes, to you or me, that's a big purchase. We wouldn’t spend $500 on someone unless it's a very special occasion. But for a billionaire? That's pocket change. I wouldn’t think so much into it.” 

Kara sighs, mostly out of relief. “You’re right. Alex just got me thinking, I guess.” 

“She does that sometimes,” Eliza laughs, lifting the mood. 

They stay at the table and chat for hours until Eliza finally decides to order Kara’s favorite take-out for the two of them. When it gets there, they eat and continue talking. Eliza’s company is apparently very much needed for Kara, because she can feel her stress melting away at every word Eliza says. 

The next morning Kara finally receives a text back from Lena. Kara didn’t really think much about the lack of response, she just figures Lena was busy taking care of Marley. 

**From: Lena Luthor :)**

**Hey, Kara! Sorry about not getting back to you. I appreciate you taking time out of your trip to check on Marley.**

**  
** **She's doing much better this morning and will be in class today.**

Kara sends a quick text back before finishing her breakfast that Eliza made for the two of them. 

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

**I’m glad to hear that! I’ll see you two soon! :)**

Kara is slightly nervous to fly back to National City. She trusts herself, but ever since the Lex Luthor situation happened, she is always a little nervous that someone might see her and track her down again. Lex took her once, what was stopping him from doing it again? She has some tips from Clark, like flying high enough that she's undetectable and always being aware of safe landing zones, but the possibility of someone seeing her is never zero and she's well aware of that. 

“Come see me soon, okay? And bring your sister and niece.” Eliza says, hugging Kara tightly and placing a kiss on her cheek. 

“I’ll try and convince her.” Kara says, putting her duffle bag over her head. “I love you, Eliza.” 

“I love you too, Dear.”

With that, Kara takes off, soaring into the sky. The adrenaline Kara gets after the initial take off is something that has never gone away. She considers herself lucky that she's one of the few people on Earth that can use the sky as a get away from the loud city noises and people. 

Upon arriving back in National City, Kara circles her apartment checking that it’s safe to land. Her landing is a bit rocky, but she figures she's just out of practice. She quickly changes out of her casual clothes and into an outfit more appropriate for teaching, grabs her keys, and makes her way to her car. The drive from her apartment to the school is just under 10 minutes and she finds herself wishing she could fly there instead. 

Of course she doesn’t because the more she flies the more she is at risk for being caught, but the desire is still there regardless. 

Kara walks into the school through the entrance near her room and immediately sees a familiar face waiting at her door. 

“Oh gosh, have you been waiting long?” Kara asks, hurrying to her door and unlocking it. 

“Not at all. Marley saw Emmie when we were coming in so she insisted on staying with her. I figured I would come say hi.” Lena replies with a smile. 

“I’m sorry, I just got back from Midvale this morning and I’ve been kind of rushing around.” 

Lena gasps, “This morning? Isn’t Midvale a 4 or 5 hour drive?”

That's it, Kara thinks. Time to throw in the towel. Once again, she has said far too much. She's never allowed to talk when she's near Lena Luthor again. 

“Uh, yeah, it is. I couldn’t bear to leave so I woke up early this morning.” 

“Missing home then?” Lena asks.

“Something like that. It’s nice being back there. Eliza’s house is in such a quiet area. There's a trail that leads right up to the water. It's peaceful.” 

“Hm, you’ll have to show me around Midvale sometime then. I’ve never been and I could use some peace.” 

“Oh! Yeah, of course! Eliza would love to meet you, especially after all she's heard.” 

Lena smirks, quirking an eyebrow. “All she's heard? Have you been talking about me Kara Danvers?” 

At this point Kara is ready to quite literally fight herself. She's sure there's some alien technology somewhere that can make it happen. All she knows is that she could really use a good kryptonian punch in the face to get her to shut her mouth right now. 

“Um, yes, yeah. You know, the- uh, necklace?” Kara stutters, looking down and toying with it. 

“I’m glad I could give you something to talk about. Speaking of the necklace, are you still on for dinner tomorrow night?” 

“Yes! I am totally on for dinner tomorrow night!” Kara says, a little bit too enthusiastically. To refrain from Lena seeing the embarrassed look on her face, Kara turns around and begins putting her stuff away. “Gosh, I forgot my lunch.” 

“A four hour drive before a full day's work can probably do that to you.” Lena teases. 

“I had take out with Eliza last night so I was going to bring food from home. Oh well.” 

Ideas on what to order Kara for lunch are already speeding through Lena’s head. “I better get to work,” She says. “Bye Kara, I’ll see you after school.” 

“Bye Lena.” Kara responds, sitting down in her desk chair, beginning to get things ready for the school day. 

A few minutes later, children begin filing into the classroom and Kara is turning on the smart board and getting ready for their morning warm-ups. Despite them only being in the first grade, she finds it important that they are aware of current events, and there's plenty of kid appropriate student news channels on the internet. 

“Everyone make sure you are in your seat and keeping quiet while we watch the news okay?” Kara says loud enough for her class to hear. She presses play on the video and begins doing attendance quietly at her desk. When she gets to Marley Luthor, she looks up to her desk to double check she is sitting there before writing a check beside her name and when she does, she notices something different; a pair of round glasses resting on her face. 

Kara lowers her own glasses and looks to Marley. Lead-lined, just like the ones she wears. 

In her mind, Marley Luthor being kryptonian has been confirmed since the day she met her, but this was just another piece to the puzzle. Who else, besides her and Clark, wears lead-lined glasses casually? There is no other explanation. 

At least that's what Kara thinks when she calls Alex after the kids leave the classroom for lunch. 

“Hello?” Alex asks. 

“Hey, do you have a minute?” 

“Not really,” Alex says. Kara can hear lots of talking in the background. “But what's up?”

“So guess what Marley Luthor came to school wearing today?” 

“Kara, are you really calling me to update me on your six year old students wardrobe? Is this appropriate?”

“Lead-lined glasses, Alex. Is that enough to check it out?” 

Alex sighs. “Maybe Lena has a fear of radiation. Knowing who her brother is, I can't say I blame her. It doesn’t mean she's kryptonian, Kara and you really need to back off with this theory.” 

Kara is ready to argue when her classroom phone begins ringing. “Whatever. I have to go.” She hangs up her cellphone and picks up the land-line on the desk. “Hello?” 

“Hi, Ms. Danvers. Your pizza is here.” 

“My what?”  
  


“Pizza. There's a delivery man here with some pizza for you.” 

“What?-” She begins, remembering what she mentioned to Lena earlier and cursing herself for being careless with her words. “Oh! Thank you, I’ll be right down.” Kara makes her way to the front office. 

“Having a pizza party Ms. Danvers?” The secretary asks. “You know you have to get that approved by the principal, right?” 

Kara chuckles uncomfortably, taking the three boxes from the man and thanking him. “No, it's all for me.” The secretary raises an eyebrow and Kara ducks out of the office to avoid further questioning. Once back in her room, she opens the boxes. A full pizza, breadsticks, and a brownie for dessert. 

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

**You absolutely did not have to order me pizza!**

**I do appreciate it though. It looks delicious.**

Kara begins serving herself pizza and breadsticks when her phone goes off with a response from Lena. 

**From: Lena Luthor :)**

**Couldn’t have my daughter's teacher starving on the job, now could I? Who would teach her? And who would join me at dinner tomorrow?**

Lena smirks at the message, still reading it over. She hopes it makes Kara blush at least a little. 

**From: Kara Danvers**

**Thanks, Lena. I’ll try not to eat it all in one sitting ;)**

  
  


Lena laughs at Kara’s message, not noticing Jess standing in the door. “What's so funny Ms. Luthor?” She asks, amused. 

“Kara. I ordered her pizza and she joked about eating it all at once.” Jess doesn’t look convinced that it actually has Lena laughing so Lena goes on to explain more. “It's just funny because I think she could do it. She eats a lot, yet she's so… toned. You know? She must workout or something. I mean, obviously she does. You can see her muscles through her shirt, Jess. It's crazy.” 

Jess stares at her boss blankly for a moment, trying to decide if she should even respond to what Lena just said or move on. She goes with the latter. “There's a doctor here to talk with you. I told him no since he didn’t make an appointment but he insists.” 

“What's his name?” Lena asks.

“Dr. Keen? I think. I didn’t quite catch what he said.” 

Lena nods. “Send him in, it's okay.” 

Lena stands from her desk waiting for the doctor to come in so she can greet him properly. A second later, a human looking man walks in and Jess closes the door behind him.  
  
“Hi Ms. Luthor.” He says, extending his hand. 

Lena stands behind her desk, confused. 

“Oh, he says. “I have human inhibitors on. Is it okay I turn them off?” Lena nods and watches as Dr. Q’in’s form changes from human to alien. “That's better.” He comments. “They make my brain feel fuzzy sometimes. There's always a downside, I suppose.” 

“I wasn’t expecting you today.” Lena says, taking a seat and motioning for him to do the same. 

“I didn’t want you to wait any longer than you had to for this. I know it was heavy on my mind, so I can’t imagine how it's been weighing on you. I expedited the bloodwork and figured everything out as close as possible.” 

“I appreciate that, Dr. Q’in.” She pauses, mentally preparing herself for what might come next. “So what do you have for me?”

Dr. Q’in opens a file and pulls out a stack of paper. “This right here is what connects Marley to you. I’ll let you go through it, but all it shows is that you are biologically related to Marley on her paternal side. So, what we can conclude is that, assuming you don't have any half-siblings you don't know about, Marley is Lex Luthor’s biological daughter.”

Lena’s breath shortens, but she buries whatever feelings she's having deep down so she can get through the rest of this. “Assuming I don't have any other half-siblings?” She asks. 

“We obviously don't have any of Lex’s DNA to truly confirm if he is the father, but it's safe for you assume he is.” Dr. Q’in tells her. 

Lena’s mind is racing trying to connect the dots. Yes, she figured Lex was the father, but over the weekend she began to doubt it and had even gone as far as to accept her not being related to her daughter. “So she isn’t half kryptonian then?”

Dr. Q’in pulls out another stack of paper, this one much larger than the last. “She is.” He says, turning the paper towards Lena. “80%. I’m assuming Lex was able to temporarily inject himself with kryptonian DNA so that Marley would be closer to full Kryptonian.” He turns the paper back around. “Now, I’m assuming you have questions. I want you to understand everything as much as possible before we discuss some things.” 

“I don't understand.” Lena says. “How is Lex the paternal father if Marley is also Superman’s child?” 

“That's one of the important things we need to discuss. Lex didn’t just abstract kryptonian DNA and create a child. There’s alien technology to do that, but if he did his DNA wouldn’t be present and that would have been ideal for him because the child would have been a full kryptonian. He did this the old-fashion way. A sperm and an egg.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question though, Dr. Q’in.” Lena says, kind of irritated. 

Dr. Q’in flips to a page in the second stack of paper and turns it towards Lena. There's a family tree. Marley’s family tree. “Marley is related to Superman, but he isn’t her biological father, obviously. That's Lex. It looks like Superman is Marley’s biological mother’s first cousin.” 

“So there’s another Kryptonian?” Lena asks, wonder sparkling in her eyes. The best thing Lillian ever did for Lena was treat her poorly. Because of that, Lena didn’t believe a word out of her mouth and it gave her space for her to create her own opinions. Anyone with eyes can look at Lex and see what feeding into Lillian’s beliefs does to someone. Lena always had a fascination with aliens, but not like Lex. She didn’t want to hurt them. She wanted to understand them. Help them, even. 

“Is? Was? There's no way to know for sure. Not without asking Superman. Or Lex, even.” 

Lena shakes her head. “I refuse to involve Lex in anything, especially when it comes to my daughter.” 

Dr. Q’in sets his files down, locking his hands together and sighing. “That's actually what we need to talk about.” 

“Lex?”  
  


He nods. “He gave her to you for a reason, Ms. Luthor. The more her powers start to set in, the greater the risk that he will be back for her.” When Lena doesn’t respond, he starts again. “We have options. I can put you in contact with some amazing agents who can help you.”

Immediately, Lena shakes her head. “Absolutely not. We aren’t getting the government involved. I trust them as much as I trust Lex.” 

  
  


“Ms. Luthor, if I may-” 

“No.” She says, shutting him down. “The government is just as likely to study my daughter as Lex is. I will keep her safe.” 

“Lex was able to get ahold of a kryptonian woman to extract her egg to create Marley. No offense, Ms. Luthor, but what makes you think you, a human, can overpower him with the technology he is?” 

“I think you have forgotten that he is my brother.” There's a moment of awkward silence that weighs in the room before Lena stands and walks to the door. “I think it's time for you to go. Thank you for your time.” 

Dr. Q’in looks as if he is about to say something but he stops himself, let's out a sigh, and exits Lena’s office. “Have a good day, Ms. Luthor.”

After he is gone, Lena returns back to her chair, turning off her computer. She knows better than to think she's getting work done after that. 

How is she supposed to even begin processing that? She knows what she expected. Lex was the father and Marley wasn’t Kryptonian or Superman was the father and Marley wasn’t related to Lena. An unknown Kryptonian woman was not in the cards. 

At least Lena knew that if Superman was the father of Marley, he was okay. Whatever Lex had done to get his DNA, it didn’t hurt him enough to kill him. But knowing Superman’s cousin is the mother of her child? Where is this woman? Is she okay? Is she still being held captive by Lex? How did he get to her in the first place? How did he find her when Lena has never even heard of a girl Kryptonian on Earth? Is this woman even alive? The possibilities are endless and thinking about them cripples Lena with anxiety. 

The thoughts don’t stop and Lena is stuck in her head going through the endless possibilities of who this woman is and where she could be now. In Lena’s head, it never goes well. She is forced out of her thoughts when her cell phone rings, the caller idea reading Kara Danvers. She glances to the time and notes that it is just past four. _Shit._

“Kara! I had no idea what time it was. I am so sorry, I'm on my way.” 

“It's totally fine, I know you must get busy. Do you need me to bring Marley to you? I drive right by L-Corp on the way to my apartment.” 

“Um, yeah, actually that would be good. I don't want you to have to wait any longer than you have to to go home. Marley knows her way to my office. My assistant will let you guys in.” 

Lena thanks Kara and hangs up the phone. She can’t believe that she forgot Marley. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t pick her own daughter up from school. The one she is supposed to be able to protect. What if something would have happened and Lena wasn’t there? She swore up and down to Dr. Q’in that she didn’t need help. That she could handle it. And 3 hours later she's already messing it up. 

It would help if she had someone to talk to about the situation. Someone who could understand and keep it a secret, but unfortunately, she doesn’t trust anyone enough to share this with them. Kara almost crosses her mind for a moment, but she reminds herself that she's known this woman a week and it would be wildly inappropriate for multiple reasons but especially because she should know better than to trust someone so quickly. 

Lena decides to turn her computer back on and at least make herself look somewhat useful so that when Kara arrives with Marley she has an excuse for being a terrible mother. She doesn’t get any work done though because now, not only is she thinking about this mysterious Kryptonian woman, but she's also thinking about Kara and forgetting Marley. 

When Marley and Kara finally walk through the office doors, Lena jumps up from her seat running over to Marley and picking her up. “I am so sorry Marley. Mommy won’t forget you again.” 

Marley laughs. “Mommy, it's okay. When we were waiting, Miss K colored with me! And on the way to your work, we played ISpy!” 

“I’m glad you had a good time.” Lena chuckles, breathing in the scent of Marley’s hair. “Thanks for not letting her get traumatized by me being a terrible mother.” Lena says to Kara, setting Marley down on. 

“You’re not a terrible mother and it was really no problem.” Kara smiles, that bright smile that Lena has somehow grown attached to. “Marley is a great kid!” 

“I guess I really do owe you dinner now.” Lena says, laughing quietly. She is so grateful Marley has such a good teacher that isn’t judging her for somehow forgetting her child. She remembers when she was a kid, a nanny quit on her family and Lillian punished Lena for it by not arranging for her to be picked up from. It was raining and cold, but her teacher made her leave and she had to walk home alone anyway. 

“You don't owe me anything. I’m glad to help.” 

“You should let Miss K bring me here everyday Momma!” Marley butts in, causing Kara to smile.

“Oh, we couldn’t impose on your poor teacher like that, Marley.” 

“Actually,” Kara starts, “I wouldn’t mind. It's on the way home for me anyway and I know you don't like dealing with all the people at the school. It wouldn’t be a problem.” 

“You know, that would actually be nice.” Lena says, figuring it would give her more one on one time with Kara. She doesn’t want to admit she's being selfish though, so she comes to the conclusion she wants this so that Marley has someone else to be around other than the kids at school and Lena at home. “Maybe we can work something out.” 

Kara grins, looking at Marley and remembering to bring up her glasses. “Oh! When did Marley get glasses? Should I move her closer to the board?” She asks. She isn’t sure why she's playing it off, especially since one day she hopes Lena will come clean to her.

“She got them over the weekend, but she should be fine where she's at in the classroom. Right Marley? No problems?” Lena asks and Marley shakes her head. “Perfect. Hey Marley? Why don't you go bother Jess for a minute?” Lena asks. Marley runs out of the office in excitement and Kara looks at Lena confused. 

“Marley is going to stay with my assistant tomorrow night. I’ll pick her up Wednesday morning to take her to school. I was thinking I would pick you up at 6:30 for dinner? Reservations are at seven.” 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” Kara says shyly. “How fancy is this place? What should I wear?” 

“You know what?” Lena says, an idea forming in her head. “How about you just send me your dress size? I’ll have something sent over to you.” 

“What? No, Lena, it's okay. I’m sure I have something that's appropriate.” 

“Don't make me guess your dress size.” Lena chuckles. “Don't worry about it Kara. Just let me do this for you.” 

“Um- yeah. Sure, I guess.” Kara says, pushing her glasses up. 

“Perfect. It's a date then.” Lena smirks. 

Kara’s face immediately begins burning. “I- um- Okay. See you tomorrow then?” 

“Sure thing.” Lena says, leading Kara to the door and opening it for her. Kara is halfway out the door when Lena grabs her hand, stopping her. “Thanks for bringing Marley to me.” She places a stack of bills in Kara’s hand and let's go, allowing Kara to continue walking. 

“Lena, you don't have to-” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Danvers.” Lena says and Kara nods, making her way to the elevator. 

“What did you do to that poor girl?” Jess asks, startling Lena. She was busy watching Kara walk away and didn’t notice Jess approaching her. 

“What do you mean?” Lena asks, regaining her composure. Being alone with Kara is like entering a new dimension and there's definitely some recovery time when you return from it. 

“Her face was the color of a tomato, Lena.” 

“Was it?” Lena asks, trying to feign confusion. Jess knows better. 

“I know you know what you’re doing, but I don't think you know what you’re _doing._ ” Jess says. 

“What do you mean, Jess?” 

“Can I ask a question? As your friend, not your assistant.” Lena nods. “Are you into Marley’s teacher?”

Lena shrugs. “She's fun to mess with.” 

“That's it?” Lena shrugs again. “Well you better get it figured out. For Marley’s sake.” 

“For Marley’s sake? As far as she's concerned Kara is nothing more than her teacher.” Lena points out. 

“And as far as you’re concerned?” 

Lena curses under her breath. She really isn’t in the mood to be called out right now. Not that there's anything to call out, of course. “She's my daughter's teacher.” 

“Whom you’re taking on a date tomorrow night.” 

“We’re hanging out.” 

“At the most expensive restaurant in National City?” 

Lena’s phone vibrates and she pulls it out, thanking whatever higher being for saving her from this conversation for a second. 

**From: Kara Danvers**

**I’m a size 8 dress. Nothing too expensive! I will be paying you back!** **  
  
**

“Hey Jess?” Lena asks. Jess quirks an eyebrow. “Can you call my stylist and have her send me a rack of dresses by tomorrow morning? Size 8.” 

“You’re not a size 8.” Jess says. 

“Jess.” Lena says firmly. 

Jess shakes her head. “You’ve got it bad, Lena Luthor.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adding some notes because I forgot! 
> 
> Someone requested my twitter! I don't have a personal or a supergirl fan account (although I post about SG a lot!) but my twitter is @svnshineswift 
> 
> ALSO: I made Lena, Kara, and Marley on The Sims 4 and uploaded them to the gallery if you want to check them out! @camryn007938


	7. Epiphany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena prepare for their dinner together.

“I need you to think hard about this Ms. Luthor. It would be a whole new life for you and Marley.” 

Lena scoffs. She’s sitting in her office chair staring at Dr. Q’in who was here to once again try and convince Lena to talk to the government about Marley. “I’m not going to rip Marley away from her school and her friends.” 

“Lex will be back for her, Lena. You know this.” 

Lena shakes her head. “I don't know that. I don't even know where Lex is. I haven't seen him in almost seven years, Dr. Q’in. I’m not going to uproot both of our lives for protection when there is absolutely no proof we need it.” 

“I’ve seen what the Alien Protection Program does for people, Ms. Luthor. You and Marley both would be better off.” 

“Better off?” Lena asks. “I would have to leave my company. I don't have anyone I trust enough to take my place. Marley would have to leave school and the only home she's ever known. You are overstepping. I’d really prefer to not have to kick you out again.” 

With that, Dr. Q’in stands and drops his card on Lena’s desk before exiting the room. “You know how to get ahold of me.” 

Once the door closes behind Dr. Q’in, Lena shakes her head in disbelief. Unbelievable, that man. Why is it so hard for people to understand what no means? She shrugs off her annoyance with Dr. Q’in as she awaits for her stylist to arrive with the dresses. She almost had her stylist show up to Kara’s with the dresses, but Lena decided it would be more fun to pick the dress herself. 

“Hello, hello!” A woman’s voice says, a few moments later. Lena smiles, recognizing the voice as Cat Grant, her stylist. 

“Cat! It’s been too long.” Lena says, walking over to greet the woman.

“I wasn’t expecting a call from you. We have an appointment next week to go over outfits for the gala.” Cat says. 

“This isn’t for me.” Lena tells her. 

“I figured as much. Size 8?” Cat looks Lena up and down, shaking her head. 

“Same old Cat Grant.” Lena laughs. 

“So who are we picking out a dress for tonight? Have you finally found a lover?”

“A friend.” Lena laughs. “I’m taking her out to dinner tonight and I promised a dress.” 

“Do we have a photo of this friend? I need it for inspiration.” Cat asks, putting air quotes around the word ‘friend’ and causing Lena to roll her eyes. 

Lena pulls out her phone and searches Kara’s name on the internet. Nothing much shows up, but there's a photo linked to Marley’s school and that's good enough. Lena taps it and turns the phone towards Cat, who takes the phone from Lena and begins zooming in. “What are you doing?” Lena asks. 

“Getting a feel for her tone. She's a pretty girl. How do you know her?” 

“She's actually my daughter’s teacher.” Lena tells her. 

Cat looks up at Lena, eyes wide in that  _ Cat Grant is definitely judging you _ way. “You’re freaky, Lena Luthor and I like it.” Cat walks over to the large rack of dresses she brought into Lena’s office and begins touching over each one. 

“Actually it's not-” 

“Ah!” Cat interrupts Lena, shutting her up. “I’m in my zone. No talking.”

There's not many people Lena will let push her around. In fact, there's no one Lena will let push her around  _ except  _ Cat Grant. Lena has known her since before moving to National City and while she may be very assertive, her work is better than anything else Lena has ever come across. So, yes, she lets it slide for Cat Grant. 

A few minutes pass and Cat finally turns to Lena. “She's perfect.” 

Lena raises an eyebrow. “I know.” 

“There's not a color that won’t look good on her, I can feel it. What's her name?” 

“Kara. Kara Danvers.” 

“Kira. Yes, she’ll look good in anything, but let's be bold. Red?” Cat asks, pulling out a red, form fitting dress. 

Now  _ both  _ of Lena’s eyebrows are raised as she looks at the dress. 

“I take it you like it?” Cat asks, but she speaks again before allowing Lena to talk. “Of course you like it. You’re a lesbian.”

“I-” Lena starts, but is once again interrupted by Cat. 

“Let me get her ready.” 

“You want to get her ready? Don't you have something to do?” Lena asks. 

“I came here when you called, didn’t I? I’m Cat Grant. The people can wait on me.” Cat shoves her phone at Lena. “Put in Kira’s contact information and give her my number. Tell her to come to my studio at 4.” Lena adds Kara's number to Cat’s phone and hands it back. 

“Um, Cat?” Lena says. “It’s Kara.” 

“Right. Kira. Isn’t that what I said?” Lena shrugs. “I’ll see you next week, Darling. Glad we could do this.” Cat says, leaning in to peck each of Lena’s cheeks and then letting herself out of the office. 

Lena looks to the clock realizing Kara’s lunch is nearly over and rushes to call her. 

“Hello?” Kara says after picking up the phone. 

“Hey! Kara! So I just picked out your dress.” 

“Oh yeah? Hope you chose something modest.” Kara jokes. 

“Mmm. Anyway, my stylist wants to dress you later. Hair, makeup, outfit. All of it. Are you busy at 4?” 

“Oh, wow. That's a lot Lena. How much did you pay for that?” 

“None. I promise. Can you go?” 

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Where at?” 

“Do you know where CatCo is?” Lena asks. 

“Do I know where CatCo is? Duh, Lena. It’s the biggest building in National City. Next to yours of course. Your stylist works for CatCo? That's so cool!” 

“My stylist  _ is  _ CatCo, Kara.” Lena laughs. “Cat Grant.” 

“CAT GRANT?” Kara yells into the phone causing Lena to move it away from her ear. “Your stylist is  _ the  _ Cat Grant? Lena, she's the biggest designer in the world. How is she  _ your  _ stylist?” 

Lena chuckles at Kara’s fangirling. “You seem to continuously forget that I’m  _ Lena Luthor.  _ CEO and billionaire. Of course I’m styled by Cat Grant.” 

There's a short pause. “Yeah. That makes sense.” 

“I’ll pick you up from CatCo at 6:30 then?” Lena asks. 

“That sounds perfect.” 

Lena and Kara say their goodbyes and they hang up so they can both return back to their jobs. Lena starts back at her paperwork easily, but Kara is pacing around her classroom. 

_ Cat Grant. Cat. Grant. CAT. GRANT.  _

Kara only has another five minutes left until the kids return from lunch and recess but she decides to call Alex anyway. She needs to tell  _ someone  _ about this. 

“Hello?” 

“I’m going to dinner tonight with Lena and her stylist is Cat Grant and Cat Grant offered to do my hair and makeup and dress me for dinner so I’m going to CatCo after work and meeting Cat Grant.” 

“Woah, slow down. It’s Maggie.” The voice says and Kara frowns upon realizing it is, in fact, Maggie. It's not that she has anything against Maggie but she knows she's going to get teased.

“Oh. Hey Maggie.” 

“So your billionaire girlfriend is having her billionaire stylist get you ready for your date tonight?” 

Kara sighs. “She's not my girlfriend and it's not a date, Maggie!” 

“Oh yeah? Who’s paying?” Maggie asks and Kara can feel her smirk through the phone. 

“Where’s Alex?” 

“In interrogation with someone. Want me to pass along your message?” She asks. 

“You know what? Keep it between us.” Kara decides. 

“Good call, Little Danvers. Alex has overlooked the fact that you're dating Lena Luthor so far, but this might be a little much. She might catch on.” 

“Maggie! I’m not dating Lena Luthor. We’re friends.” Just then, children begin filing into the classroom. “I gotta go. Don’t say a word to Alex.” 

“You got it.” Maggie says before the line goes silent. 

Kara is in no way prepared to handle a classroom full of children nor is she ready to go back into teaching mode after that. Of course, it's not really an option to not teach so she forces herself to hand out the worksheets to the kids. 

The rest of the day might as well be torture. Kara loves her job, but her mind is elsewhere, as any normal person would expect. She's meeting the world's most famous designer, of course she's freaking out. 

There's also the fact that Maggie has once again made assumptions about Lena and Kara and honestly Kara would be lying if she didn’t see Maggie’s point. That's exactly why she decided not to say anything to Alex. It's not that Maggie was right, but the way Maggie put it, it definitely seemed like there was something there when there definitely wasn’t. Obviously. 

Kara is just waiting for Alex to pick up Marley and then she can leave. Lena had texted her at some point to let her know that Lena’s assistant, Jess was just going to pick Marley up and take her home for the evening. It allowed Lena to finish up some work and to get ready without worrying about having to get Marley to Jess. 

“Finally.” Kara says when her sister walks through the classroom door. It’s already nearly four and Kara realizes she's going to have to fly to CatCo if she wants to get there on time. She wouldn’t normally, but she figures she can’t be late for Cat Grant. 

Alex looks to Kara, an eyebrow raised. “In a hurry?” She asks, grabbing Emmie’s bag. Kara shrugs. “What are you doing?” 

“Nothing.” 

“You’re lying.” 

Kara shakes her head and looks away, one of the few signs that she was definitely lying. 

“Why are you lying to me?” 

“Marley says that Aunt Kara is hanging out with her mom tonight and that's why she has to stay the night somewhere else!” Emmie says, giggling. Kara glares at her niece. 

“You’re hanging out with Lena tonight? Why would you lie to me about that?” 

Kara sighs. “I just didn’t want you to say anything.” 

Alex gives Kara a small smile. “I promised you I would be more open-minded. Where are you guys going?” 

“Uh, some Brazillian SteakHouse. It’s in downtown. I don't know, I’ve never been.” 

“Wait, the one downtown? That's like 200 dollars a person!” Kara shrugs. “You’re going right now?” 

“Well no. I’m going to CatCo. She got a dress for me and I’m having my hair and makeup done.” 

“I guess she is really generous.” Alex says. “Have a good time, Kara. Be careful.” 

“Thank you.” Kara smiles. As soon as she walks out of the room, Kara quickly gathers her stuff and flies to her apartment. She decides she will have to figure out how to get her car home later. After dropping her stuff off at her apartment she heads straight for CatCo, arriving just in time. 

“Uh, hi. I’m here to see Cat Grant.” Kara says to the person at the front desk and hands them her ID. They raise an eyebrow at her, but proceed to pick up the phone, calling Cat’s office, Kara assumes. 

A few moments later, they hang up the phone. “You’re good to go. Take those elevators to the 12th floor. Ms. Grant's assistant will be there to take you back to her office.” 

Kara gives a quick thank you before making her way to the elevators and up to the 12th floor like they had said. When the elevator stops and opens, a lady is standing there smiling. “You must be Kara Danvers?” She asks. 

“Yes! You’re Ms. Grant's assistant?” 

The lady nods. “I’m Eve.” She pauses for a moment. “You must be pretty special. Ms. Grant cleared her afternoon to style you. What do you do?” 

“Oh. I’m just a teacher. I’m a friend of Lena Luthor’s. She just told me to come here.” 

“Oh! Lena Luthor’s  _ friend _ . That makes sense.” Kara nearly comments on the way Eve had said that, but she quickly notices that they’re approaching the office and focuses on that instead. Eve opens the door and peeks her head in. “Ms. Grant, Kara Danvers is here.” 

“Let her in.” A voice says and Eve proceeds to step back and open the door to let Kara in. Cat stands from her desk and makes her way to Kara. “Kira! Oh, yes. You’re just as beautiful in person, maybe more so.” 

Kara smiles. “Oh, thank you.” She says, then extending her hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Grant. I was really excited when Lena told me you wanted me to come here.” 

  
Cat looks down at her hand and looks back up, not returning the gesture. “I don't do hands.” Kara quickly retracts her hand, standing awkwardly looking at Cat Grant. “Kira, what hair stylist do you see? Your hair is perfect!” 

“Um, it's Kara, actually.” Kara starts. “But last time I just went to Great Clips, I think.” 

Cat snorts. “Where on Earth did Lena find you?” 

“I teach her daughter, actually.” 

“Right. She told me that. You know, I had a girlfriend one time. She wasn’t a teacher, but we did do some amazing teacher/student roleplay. Maybe that's what Lena sees in you.” 

Kara’s face is burning red. “We actually are just-” 

“Kira, why don't you take a seat.” Cat says, motioning to the salon chair in front of a mirror. “I want to start on your hair.” 

“Uh, okay.” Kara says, sitting down.    
  


“You know, you don't see many stylists who design and dress  _ and  _ do hair and makeup.” Cat says. “And I don't do it for many people. I have plenty of hair stylists and makeup artists at CatCo.” 

Kara doesn’t say anything, but she smiles at Cat through the mirror, mostly unsure of what is going on. 

“Lena showed me your photo and I just needed to get my hands on your gorgeous face.” Cat begins pulling Kara’s hair out of her low bun and running her hair through her hands. “You look so innocent, Kira. I intend to change that. Lena might not have your dress on very long.” 

This time, she decides to not correct Cat. She's Cat Grant and Cat Grant probably doesn’t enjoy being corrected. Also, what's the harm in letting her assume she and Lena are in a relationship? It surely doesn’t affect that fact that they aren’t. Cat will probably forget about her as soon as she leaves anyway. 

Cat begins styling Kara’s hair in curls, leaving it flowing down her back. Kara doesn’t think Lena has ever even seen Kara with her hair down. She always puts it into a bun or a ponytail for work so it's out of the way. 

“I’ve done it.” Cat says finally, after about an hour. 

“It looks great!” Kara smiles. 

“Of course it does. Maybe this will raise your standards and stop you from ever stepping foot into a Great Clips again. Horrific, Kira, truly horrific.” She hands Kara a mirror so she can see the back. Half of her hair is pulled to the back of her head in loose braids, cascading down once the two sides meet and blending with the other half of her hair. 

“I love it.” 

Cat smiles. “How do you feel about dark makeup?” 

“Oh, uh- not really my thing. I don't really wear makeup but when I do it's just something natural.” 

“I can tell you don't wear makeup, Kira but you’re just going to have to trust me.”

Kara nods and allows Cat to start working on her face. It takes just as long for Cat to do Kara’s makeup as it did for her to do her hair, but Kara let's herself enjoy it. Cat doesn’t talk very much while working, Kara learns, so she uses it as time to think and just relax. 

“And there goes all of your innocence.” Cat smiles. “Lena is going to eat you up. Pun intended.” 

If it wasn’t for the makeup, Cat would see Kara turning a fiery red at the comment. Luckily for Kara, she is spared the struggle of finding a response to Cat’s comment because she turns her towards the mirror, allowing her to see herself. Kara gapes at herself in the mirror. She has only ever seen herself with a bit of mascara and some lip gloss. “Do you like the smokey eye?” Kara nods. She likes what she sees, but she definitely isn’t used to it. “Now, how badly do you need these glasses?”

Kara grabs them from Cat’s hands. “Really badly. Can’t see without them.” 

Cat sighs. “I guess we will be leaving something for Lena’s imagination. That's okay.” Cat walks over to the other side of the room and unzips the bag with the dress in it. “This is what Lena picked out for you.” 

“Oh. Wow. That's, um- tight. It looks tight.” 

“That's the point Kira. Get undressed.” 

“Uh- um- I- Right here?” 

“Yes right here. Go on.” 

“Oh, I don't know. I mean I never undress in front of people.” 

“Kira, there is absolutely nothing I haven’t seen before.” When Kara doesn’t move, Cat groans and turns around. “Better?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Kara says, removing her clothing. Cat turns around, her hand covering her eyes and hands her the dress. 

“Don't worry, not looking. I will have to zip you up though.”

Kara slides on the dress and glances at herself in the mirror. Yeah, she definitely looks good. 

“Okay.” Kara says, signaling for Cat to uncover her eyes and turn around.

. 

After she does she looks Kara up down down. “Mmm,” Cat smirks, her hands on Kara’s lower back as she slowly zips up the dress. “If Lena hadn’t already claimed you I might just take you for myself.” 

Kara ignores the last part of Cat’s comment, trying not to think about the fact that Cat is  _ at least  _ twice her age. “Uh, did she say she claimed me?” 

Cat hands Kara a pair of black heels and waits for Kara to slide them on. “Kira, she didn’t need to say it. Who does all of this for just a friend?” 

Kara sighs. “Everyone keeps saying that.” 

“ _ Everyone  _ is right. Now, Lena should be here any minute. Why don't I walk you out?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Kara says, glancing at herself in the mirror one last time. 

For some reason unknown to Kara, she begins to get nervous as Cat Grant guides her down to the first floor of the building. Of course, she has been nervous the entire day but that's because she was meeting Cat Grant. She's passed that now, so what could she possibly have to be nervous about? It's not like she hasn’t met Lena before or been around her. Why is this any different? 

“Just in time,” Cat says. 

Kara peeks out the door, looking for Lena’s car. She has seen it before at the school, but nothing of it's sorts was anywhere in sight. “Uh, where?” Kara asks. 

Cat points out the door at the limo parked directly in front of CatCo. 

Kara shakes her head. “Why would she get a limo?” Just then, Lena steps out of the limo, standing by the door, clearly awaiting Kara. 

“You really think you haven’t been claimed?” Cat smirks, ushering Kara out the door and heading back to her office.

In true Kara fashion, she stumbles out the door, not at all confidently. When she finally manages to become stable on her feet, she stands straight and looks at Lena with a shy smile. 

It takes a moment for Lena to find her words and she's immediately concerned when she's flustered for even a second because that just means this is going to be a brutal dinner. 

“Wow, Kara. You look,” Lena pauses, taking another second to look Kara up and down. She knew she would like the dress on Kara but she didn’t realize how much she would like it. “Gorgeous.” 

“So do you.” Kara blushes, looking to the ground. Lena is dressed in a navy blue pantsuit, paired with black heels and a low ponytail. “You got a limo?” 

“It wouldn’t be a proper Lena Luthor date-night without one.” She says, motioning for Kara to get inside of the limo. 

“Date?” Kara asks. 

“As friends of course.” Lena says, shutting the door behind them. She had previously told the driver that she would get the doors and that he could stay in the car. 

Kara visibly frowns, but Lena doesn’t notice. She's too busy regretting saying what she did. She knows Kara is probably straight and wouldn’t want a date with her anyway, but unfortunately she finds herself wishing for a little more. Kara on the other hand is busy questioning why she is frowning because obviously this is a friend date and she wasn’t thinking otherwise in the first place. 

“So,” Lena clears her throat, causing Kara to look up at her. “Have you ever been to a Brazillian SteakHouse?” 

Kara shakes her head. “No, I haven’t. I have high expectations though, if it's what you’re choosing.” 

Lena laughs. “And what is that supposed to mean?” 

“No offense, Lena but I think you’re a bit high maintenance. Not that it's a bad thing.”

“Maybe I am, or maybe I just like to treat pretty girls to nice dinners.” 

“So where’s the pretty girl?” Kara asks. 

Lena laughs. “You must be teasing me. Looking like that, it's obviously you. Although I’m assuming you would get that title wearing a garbage bag.”

Kara looks at her, her face straight. “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to say that to your daughter’s teacher?” Kara is half expecting to catch Lena off guard with her statement and hopefully fluster her a little, the way Lena always does to her. Normally she's stumbling through her words and despising the look of pure amusement on Lena’s face. It’s time to get her back. 

Except Lena is far too good for that. “We may have already crossed that line.” She smirks. “Might as well go all in.” 

“All in?” Kara asks, cursing herself for not being able to fluster Lena Luthor.  _ One day _ , she thinks. “Like best friends?” 

Lena snorts. “Sure, Kara. If that's what you want.” Kara sits silently unsure of what exactly Lena means, but doesn’t bother to question it. Lena eventually speaks again. “We’re almost there, but I figured we would pregame.” 

“Pregame?” Kara asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Like scrabble?”

Lena gapes at Kara for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. 

“What?” 

“Kara, you think-” Lena starts, but she's unable to control her laughter long enough to finish her sentence. “What do you think pregame is?” She finally manages. 

Kara shrugs. “A game you play before you do something?” She offers, genuinely confused. 

“Oh, Kara. You poor girl. What did you do in college?” 

“Uh- I went to classes?” She says. “Is that not what pregame is?” 

“You’re adorable, seriously.” Lena opens a cooler and pulls out a bottle. “Pregaming is when you drink before you go out. Champagne. Do you want some?” 

“Oh.” Kara says, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “Sure, I’ll have some.”

Lena smiles. “I’d love to see Kara Danvers a bit tipsy.” 

Kara laughs awkwardly, knowing that obviously won't happen. “Oh, it takes a lot for me to get tipsy.” 

Lena raises an eyebrow. “I had you pegged as a light-weight.” 

“You pegged me wrong!” Kara laughs. Lena’s eyes widen and she again begins laughing. 

“You have no idea what you just said, do you?” Lena asks and Kara shakes her head. “Telling you might actually be crossing a line, but feel free to google it on your own time.” She hands Kara a glass filled halfway with champagne. Kara brings it to her nose and smells it. Lena on the other hand, lifts it to her mouth and takes a long sip, and refills it right away. “Haven’t had this kind of champagne before? I promise it's the best.” 

“Oh, I haven’t really had any champagne before.” 

“Then what is your drink of choice?” Lena asks. 

“Uh- I don’t- Wine?” Kara says, clearly unsure of herself. For obvious reasons, she doesn’t really drink alcohol. She has had sips of wine, but nothing more than that. She's even known about the alcohol from Daxam at the alien bar for a while, but she hasn’t gotten around to trying it. 

“Red wine? White wine?” 

“Both?” 

“Yeah, you’re for sure a lightweight, Kara. There's no way you aren’t.” Lena laughs. Kara shrugs it off and wishes she knew more about alcohol for situations like this. “You better finish that glass. We’re here.” With that Kara downs the glass, impressing Lena a little since she had been so standoffish towards the champagne to begin with. 

“Ready.” Kara says. 

“Maybe I will see tipsy Kara tonight.” Lena says hopefully. 

“Do we get out here?” Kara asks, ignoring Lena’s statement. Lena nods and slides to the door, opening it and holding it for Kara. “Thank you.” Kara says to Lena after exiting the car. 

“This way.” Lena says, extending a hand with the intention of leading Kara into the building. Kara’s heart skips a beat, but she lightly places her hand into Lena’s being careful not to hold her hand back. She isn’t sure she can control her strength right now. 

After entering the restaurant and being seated, Kara looks around in awe. “Wow.”    
  


“Impressive?” Lena asks. 

“It feels like somewhere I definitely don't belong.” Kara stares up at the glass ceiling and looks at the stars. “At least not now.” She adds.    
  
“At least not now?” 

“Back home. We didn’t have anything like this, we had other fancy places but culturally it was just different. We were well known and my parents were wealthy. I told you that before.” 

“I don't remember you mentioning what country this was.” Lena says, knowing full well that Kara hadn’t. It had been bugging her since Kara had mentioned her home country that was destroyed. She even tried researching it, but was unable to find anything about this mystery country.

Kara stiffens, but to her luck, the waitress approaches them with drink menus and she allows herself to relax. At least she avoided the question this time. “What do you want, Kara?” Lena asks. “Choose anything.” 

Lena notices Kara staring at the menu confused. “Uh, just water.” 

Lena smiles at the waiter. “Get her a water and a glass of chardonnay. Red wine for me.” 

“Chardonnay?” Kara asks. 

“A type of wine. I figured you would like it.” Lena hands Kara a dinner menu. “Why don't you take a look and tell me what sounds good?”

Kara takes the menu from Kara and opens it. “Lena, why is an appetizer sixty dollars?” 

“What do you mean?” Lena asks. “What's wrong with that?” 

“Sixty dollars would be too much to pay for one meal!” 

“Don't turn the page then.” Lena says taking back the menu. “Why don't I order for you and you don't worry about the prices? Are you picky?” Kara shakes her head. “I’ll get you my favorite then.” 

“Can I ask you a question?” Kara asks. Lena closes the menu giving Kara all of her attention. “I have plenty of friends and we all love spending time together. This is different than all of my other friendships though. We don't go out to dinner like this and we always pay for ourselves.” 

“What's your question Kara?” 

“Do you do this for all of your friends?” 

“Kara, I’m going to be honest with you.” Lena says, nearly causing Kara’s heart to stop. She's terrified at what will come next especially with everyone telling her it's more than a friendship. “I don't really have friends, so I don't know how to go about this friendship. I’m just doing what feels right and I know I enjoy your company and it makes me happy to treat you, so that's what I’m doing.” 

Kara smiles, “That makes sense. Thanks Lena.” She says. She's somewhat relieved at Lena’s response. She doesn’t have to be so stressed about the fact that Lena may want more than a friendship now. Everyone else was reading into it incorrectly. Lena just didn’t know how to do normal friend things, like casually hanging out and that's okay. On the other hand though, she's a little disappointed. It terrified her, but for some reason she wanted Lena’s response to be different. A part of her felt special thinking that Lena Luthor might like her in a more than friend way, but Kara ignores that feeling for the most part knowing that feeling it would be selfish to Lena since she would be unable to reciprocate those feelings. Luckily though, she doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. 

A few minutes later, the waitress returns with Lena and Kara’s drinks and Lena orders for both of them. “Take a sip.” Lena tells her. “If you don't like it I will order you something else.” 

Kara takes a sip and smiles. It's fine, but it tastes like alcohol and when alcohol has no affect on you it really just isn’t worth it. For Lena’s sake though Kara continues drinking it and even finishes it fairly quickly to Lena’s surprise. “That was great, Lena. Thanks.” 

“I’ll order you another. Feel it yet?”

“I told you I’m not a lightweight!” Kara laughs. 

“Learning about you is my new favorite thing.” Lena half smiles, looking at Kara in a way she has never seen her look at her before. It's almost magnetic, the look she is giving her, and Kara feels as if she knows exactly what the look means, yet she can’t place the feeling for the life of her. Lena’s eyes are vulnerable, but caring. Kara stares back, matching Lena’s half smile. Time could stop and neither of them would notice, Kara thinks.

She wonders what Lena could possibly be thinking about to elicit this look. What did Kara do to deserve it? It seems like something you would save for only the most special people, yet here she was on the receiving end of it from the one and only, Lena Luthor.

And then it clicks for Kara. 

She likes this. 

She likes Lena’s gifts. 

She likes Lena treating her to dinner.

She likes Lena ordering her lunch when she forgets it. 

She likes seeing Lena every morning and afternoon. 

She likes the way Lena’s eyes crinkle when she laughs at her jokes. 

She likes the way Lena cares about her daughter more than anything else.

And most of all, she likes the way she could go on forever about the things she likes about Lena Luthor. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry to end it like that, but it felt right! Don't worry, chapter 8 will pick up where this one left off. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading and the support you continue to give! 
> 
> And even more so, thank you for waiting for this chapter! It took a little longer than normal because I've recently gone from taking care of one child during the day to three so my writing time is limited. 
> 
> Give me a comment and let me know what you think and what you want to see in upcoming chapters!


	8. Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena goes digging for information

She likes this. 

She likes Lena’s gifts. 

She likes Lena treating her to dinner.

She likes Lena ordering her lunch when she forgets it. 

She likes seeing Lena every morning and afternoon. 

She likes the way Lena’s eyes crinkle when she laughs at her jokes. 

She likes the way Lena cares about her daughter more than anything else.

And most of all, she likes the way she could go on forever about the things she likes about Lena Luthor. 

“Kara what's wrong?” Lena asks, her head tilted to the side. “You’re tearing up!” 

“What?” Kara says snapping out of her thoughts. “Oh. I’m sorry.” 

“Why are you crying?” Lena extends her arm across the table and places her hand on top of Kara’s in the most comforting way she can manage.

“I’m not really sure.” Kara chuckles, wiping the tears from her face and praying that her makeup hadn’t been ruined. “I guess I’m just really grateful for you and your friendship. This is unlike anything I have ever experienced.” 

Lena’s concerned look changes into a smile and she squeezes Kara’s hand. “I don't think I have ever made anyone cry. Well, not in a nice way.”

“I’m sorry.” Kara repeats. “I don't want to ruin our dinner.”

Lena shakes her head. “Kara Danvers, you could never.” 

For the rest of the dinner Kara and Lena laugh, joke, and simply enjoy each other's company. Kara realizes quickly that, friends or more than friends, it's rare that you find someone that you just click with like she has Lena. She's known her for a week and Kara feels like Lena could be someone she's known for her entire life, even back on Krypton, that's how close she feels to her. Their connection is just magnetic, unlike anything she's ever known.

“That was amazing Lena.” Kara exclaims as Lena leads her outside just as she had led her inside a few hours earlier. “I really don't want to know how much you spent though.”

“You seem a little tipsy. Are you a little tipsy?”

Kara laughs. “No. But I think you are.” Kara says, allowing herself to tighten her grip on Lena’s hand. 

“I’m Lena Luthor. I can handle my drinks, thank you very much.” Lena slurs. 

“Really? Because you had like six of them and they definitely weren’t light on the alcohol.” 

“I was just keeping up with you! How are you not drunk?” 

“Not a lightweight.” Kara says. 

Kara and Lena get into the limo and Lena instructs Kara to tell the driver the address to her apartment. Once she does, they begin driving. 

“Mmmm, Kara.” Lena says, in almost a moan. That alone causes Kara to blush profusely but Lena doesn’t notice, probably due to the amount of alcohol she has ingested. “You are just so intriguing. I could listen to you talk for hours.” 

“Oh yeah?” Kara asks. She so desperately wants to use this situation to her advantage but, of course, she has morals. Lena has been drinking and Kara should not encourage her to say anything she wouldn't sober because if she was comfortable saying it she would have said it before drinking. There's also the fact that she knows she needs to sort out her own thoughts and feelings before bringing this up with Lena. She has never had feelings for anyone before, especially a woman and because of that she's concerned about two things. One being how she knows if she's straight or not and the other being that she knows very well that she can be naive. What if these are platonic feelings that she's never had before so she's misreading them? There is a lot to think about before she talks to Lena. If she even does. It seems to Kara that Lena has said they were friends a little too much for there to even be a chance Lena might be feeling a similar way. 

Lena wraps her arms around Kara and looks up at her drunkenly. “You don't have to go home. You can come to my place. I have lots of beds!” 

“I’d love to take you up on that, Lena but I have work in the morning and so do you.” Kara tells her. 

Lena puffs out her bottom lip. “Not fair.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon when I drop off Marley at L-Corp.” Kara tells her, smiling. Lena lets out a long, disappointed breath and crosses her arms, sitting like that until they arrive at Kara’s apartment “Bye Lena. I hope you sleep well tonight.” Kara says before exiting the limo and making her way up to her apartment. She would have loved to hang out with Lena longer, but Rao, she needs some time alone to think and to process whatever the hell had happened over dinner.

It took Kara two entire years to make a decision on what she wanted to major in when she went to college and even after she did make the decision, she was constantly second-guessing herself. Figuring things out has never come easy for Kara so the fact that she might have feelings for Lena clicked so easily over dinner… She's definitely skeptical of it. 

She decides to sleep on it and hopes that maybe once she wakes up in the morning things are much more clear. If not, well, she's just going to have to figure it out another way. 

Kara falls asleep without complications but nothing is truly  _ that  _ easy in life. So to confuse Kara even more, she dreams about Lena. The dream isn’t explicit, that hasn’t even crossed Kara’s mind. It’s cozy, like holding Lena in her arms in front of a warm fire or watching the sun shine down on Lena’s face in a beautiful meadow of daisies. It throws Kara off when she wakes up in the morning and she thinks she would rather the dreams be explicit. As awkward as it would be, at least it would be straight up about what her subconscious wants. 

She's up far earlier than she needs to be and the thought of Lena is plaguing her mind. Even after getting ready for work she still has an hour and a half to spare so she decides to enlist some help by driving over to Alex and Maggie’s. She really isn’t in the mood for Maggie’s teasing, but she needs someone to help put things into perspective and it isn’t going to be Alex, that's for sure. 

Luckily for emergency situations, like this one obviously, Alex and Maggie only live a few minutes away. She pulls into their driveway, thanking Rao that Alex’s car is already gone. She rushes to the door and gets inside. 

“Woah! Kara!” Maggie says, rushing out of the room. Kara winces, covering her eyes. She definitely just saw her sister's wife in her underwear. That surely won’t make the situation less awkward. A few moments pass and Maggie returns, dressed this time. “Do you know how to knock?” 

“Sorry. It was an emergency.” 

Maggie raises an eyebrow. “Really?” Kara drops to the couch, covering her face into her hands. “Hey?” Maggie says seriously, sitting down beside Kara. “Are you okay? Should I call Alex?” 

Kara’s head shoots up and she shakes her head no longer than necessary to ensure Maggie gets the point. “It's Lena.” 

“Oh no. Did she break up with you? I’m sorry, kid.” 

“Maggie! We weren’t dating!” 

“Then I’m lost.” 

“The problem is that I think I want to.”

Maggie blinks, trying to process. “How is that a problem?” 

“I’m not gay!”

“Kara, let me be honest… I don't think I’m the right person for this conversation.” 

“What? Why?” 

“I think you should talk to Alex. She's your sister. But to be clear, there are a lot of other sexualities. You could be bisexual!” 

“I don’t like women!” 

“I tried to tell myself that for a long time, Kid. It only hurt me. You clearly have feelings for Lena. Just let yourself be happy. And talk to Alex.”

Kara looks up, her eyes tear-filled. “Maybe.” 

Maggie gives Kara a half-smile and squeezes her shoulder in comfort. “I’m sorry I can't be more help, but I really need to get to work. You can stay here though, just lock the door when you leave.   
  


Kara nods, moving from her sitting position to a lying position on the couch. She considers leaving and getting to work extra early to finish some of her lesson plans but once she is laying down she can’t bring herself to move. Maggie is right. She should talk to Alex. Alex struggled with her sexuality and would understand. It's not that Maggie didn’t, it's just that Alex is her sister. She also knows that Maggie is right. She should just let herself be happy. Who cares about labels?

She wants so badly to not care, but she's already an alien. She already has to deal with being different than everyone. Why add to it? 

Kara knows her thinking is wrong, but she can’t help it. 

At the very last possible minute, Kara decides to stop drowning in her sorrows and separates herself from Alex and Maggie’s couch. She's grateful she doesn’t have to see Lena this morning, since Jess is bringing Marley to school. Not because she doesn’t want to see her, but mostly because these feelings are out of control and she does not want to add to it by looking at Lena’s sparkling green eyes. 

But because nothing ever goes as she needs it to, when she arrives at the school, Lena and Marley are waiting by her classroom door. 

She lets out a sigh before forcing a smile. “Hey guys! Sorry i’m running a little late.” 

Lena flashes a smile, a genuine one. “I wonder why, Miss Danvers. You did have a lot of  _ juice _ at dinner last night.” 

Kara hurries over to the door to unlock it. “You're mistaken, Miss Luthor. I woke up feeling fantastic this morning.” 

“Well, that makes one of us then.” Lena jokes, lifting her sunglasses and wincing. 

“I thought your assistant was bringing Marley to school.” 

“I missed her.” Lena says. “So I forced myself out of bed and took her to breakfast before school.” 

Kara smiles. “You’re a good mom, Lena.” 

“Thanks.” She says, returning the smile. “I hate to cut this short but I really need to go pick up some stuff to hydrate with, otherwise I’m not going to get any work done. I’ll see you this afternoon?” 

Kara nods and Lena says her goodbye, putting her sunglasses back down. Everything she said to Kara was true. She missed her daughter and wanted to see her before she went to school. However, it was definitely a bonus that she got to see Kara as well. She woke up desperately wondering if Kara was as hungover as she was, and apparently not.

After stopping at the store and picking up some pedialyte, she heads to L-Corp and makes her best attempt at not looking hungover. People would definitely judge her, especially since she's judging herself. Who gets completely drunk on a Tuesday night? College students, maybe. CEOs of multi-billion dollar companies? Probably not.

“Jesus Lena. You look worse than when you came to get Marley.” Jess comments immediately after Lena steps out of the elevator. Lena would reprimand her but she does not have it in her.    
  


“You noticed?” 

Jess let's out a laugh. “Yes Lena. What on earth did you do last night?” 

Lena drops her grocery bags on Jess’s desk and sits in the chair facing her assistant. “I went out to dinner with Kara.” 

“And what? Did she drug you? You look terrible!” 

“Wow, thanks. You’re fired.” Lena jokes. “I tried to outdrink her. I thought for sure she was a lightweight, but this morning she's skipping around just as sunny and energetic as usual.” 

“You tried to outdrink her? On a work night? Why?” Jess says, exasperated. Lena isn’t unknown for having a nightcap but she is certainly too professional to get drunk when she has to work the next day. 

“Because she told me she wasn’t a lightweight and I needed to prove her wrong.” 

Jess squints her eyes at Lena. “We can see how that worked out.” 

“Anyway, it was a nice friend date. Thank you for asking. I’m going to go medicate and hydrate.” Lena says, standing up and wincing as she does so. 

“Wait.” Jess stops her. “Did you just say friend date?” 

“That's what it was.” 

“Lena. You bought her a dress, had Cat Grant style her, and took her to the most expensive restaurant in town. That's not a friend date. That's a  _ date  _ date.” 

Lena laughs, fully unaware that Jess is not joking. “Maybe if Kara wasn’t straight.” 

“She said that?” Jess asks. 

“Well. No. But she hasn’t said otherwise so I’m just assuming.” 

Jess shakes her head. Lena is the smartest person she knows, so how can she be this dumb. It truly makes no sense. “Stop assuming.” 

Lena shrugs, walking into her office and plopping herself in her desk chair. She could just sit here miserable for the rest of the day, she thinks, but she decides against it and forces herself to swallow some pain meds and chug some pedialyte. She is definitely not going to be drinking like that again anytime soon.

Hours later, when her headache has finally disappeared and she has at least  _ some  _ of her energy back, Lena is attempting to work on some paperwork that desperately needs done. She's been putting off a lot of her workload for the last few days and it's beginning to pile up. She can’t get her mind off of Marley’s biological mother though and any progress that she might have made on her paperwork otherwise is completely halted by her thoughts running through her mind. Maybe she’ll hire an intern to help with paperwork if she can’t get herself to focus. 

It's never really mattered to Lena in the past about where Marley came from. Of course there were the concerns when it came to her health and now, apparent powers, but it didn’t make a difference that Marley wasn’t her biological daughter. It still doesn’t now, but the fact that Lex got ahold of another Kryptonian and did  _ god knows what _ to get her DNA? She can’t help but be curious if the woman is okay. Did she make it through? Is she still suffering? Is she able to lead a normal life? Does she know she has a daughter? There's so many questions unanswered and before Lena knows it, she's on autopilot making her way down into the very secret room that contains Lex’s files. 

He has them for everything. Of course Lena’s answers lie within them. Or at least some of them anyway. 

She tries to ignore the fact that this is the second time in less than a week that she's gone through Lex’s stuff. He would be all too pleased to know that he is taking up such a big space in Lena’s mind right now. 

She hates how meticulous Lex is. Or was. She really isn’t sure where he is or if he’s even alive at this point, but it would be very unlike her brother to die. Anyway, the amount of boxes is daunting and she can’t believe it only took her an hour to find what she was looking for last time. It was nothing other than luck and she is completely ready to spend the rest of her work day searching for what she is looking for. 

Unless Lex destroyed it, it’s here. Everything Lex has ever done, including inventions from when he was a kid are in these files. He saved it all and she has no reason to think he wouldn’t do the same with this information. He might have hid it elsewhere if he knew Lena would ever get her hands on all of his files, but he couldn’t have known and she stayed 2 steps ahead of him to ensure he couldn’t get them back. If it prevented him from hurting another person, it was all worth it. 

She starts where she left off. She knows whatever it is she's looking for isn’t in the boxes she had shuffled through the week before. In the first box she pulls out a notebook. They’re notes from when Lex was still living at home. 

_ April 2nd, 2002.  _

_ A Toy For Lena  _

_ Soon I will be off to college. From there, Lena and I will not be able to play our daily game of chess. I have decided to invent a robot to play chess with her to take my place while I am gone. It will have adjustable levels of difficulty. I will begin this project today with hopes of it being done within the month.  _

Behind the paper were blueprints and more notes on the robot that he was making for Lena. She remembers it well and how happy she was that her brother had taken the time to make it for her so she would feel less alone. She doesn’t let herself reminisce though. That's dangerous and she knows that the brother who cared so deeply for her is long gone. Lena is putting the files back inside ready to move on to the next box when she sees a polaroid photo at the bottom. It's a photo of Lena, from that very same day. She's ten years old and smiling big, her hand covering half her face trying to prevent Lex from taking a picture. She remembers how poorly the moment ended. 

_ “I need this photo for my files Lena!” A sixteen year old Lex laughs, grabbing Lena’s wrist to move it away from her giggling face. _

_ “Lex!” Lena laughs. She extends her arm and the camera flashes.  _

_ “That will have to do.” He says, pulling out the photo and waving it in the air.  _

_ “That doesn’t do anything, Lex.”  _

_ “It's placebo. You’re right.”  _

_ “Lena!” A voice yells from around the corner. Her eyes go wide and Lex’s face falls. He knows it's his mother coming to mess with his sister again and there is nothing he can do about it. “Don't you have homework?” Lillian says walking into the room.  _

_ Shaking slightly, Lena responds. “No Ma’am. I’m finished with it.”  _

_ “Then make yourself useful somehow. Leave Lex alone. He has big things to do and does not need a child pestering him.” The way she says child is like an insult and it sticks with Lena. She does as she is told in fear of punishment and Lex shoots her an apologetic look knowing it's partly his fault for being so loud.  _

_ “You don't have to be so mean, mother. She wasn’t pestering me. She's learning.”  _

_ Lillian snorts. “With that dimwit of a woman as her mother? That child doesn’t stand a chance.”  _

_ “You’re the only mother she knows.”  _

_ “And yet she hasn’t inherited my dna. She’ll be diseased forever but you, my Lex. You’re perfect.”  _

_ Lena is standing around the corner listening to every word from Lillian’s mouth. It isn’t anything she hasn’t heard before, but it hurts just as much anyway. _

Lena throws the picture into the box. If her good memories as a child weren’t ruined by Lillian, Lex sure did the job by becoming the monster he is now.

She puts the box back and shoves whatever feelings she's having to the back of her head and moves on to the next box. And then the next box. And then the one after that. 

Hours later, when she's on the verge of giving up for the day, she finds something that strikes her as odd. It's a police report, seemingly copied to print from a scanner. 

_ Black Rock Desert, Nevada  _

_ Caller states a large piece of debris has fallen from the sky. No fire. Caller has been advised not to approach. Police in-route to the scene.  _

Lena is curious as to why Lex has this and it's enough for her to continue searching through the box. In the same file, she finds a transcript from a phone call between Lex and what looks like a city police department. Lex is demanding information on the fallen debris and the police department is swearing over and over that they have no information. They don’t even have the call that Lex is looking for in their database, not that they could give it to him if they did. 

The next paper Lena finds in the same file is a transcribed  _ interview  _ much like she found the week prior. 

_ Interview with Sheriff Felix.  _

_ Lex: Do you know why you’re here Sheriff Felix? _

_ Felix: Of course I do. You’re Lex Luthor.  _

_ Lex: So why don't you give me what you want and you can be on your way?  _

_ Felix: I signed an NDA. I would lose my job.  _

_ Lex: You hate aliens. Right?  _

_ Felix: First we have to deal with illegals from outside the country and now from outside the world? Despicable.  _

_ Lex: Work for me.  _

_ Felix: I’m sorry?  _

_ Lex: Give me the information I need and work for me. We’ll keep you hidden. We will take them down together.  _

_ Felix: I don't know much.  _

_ Lex: Let's start with what you do know.  _

_ Felix: The debris wasn’t just debris. It was some sort of alien ship with someone inside.  _

_ Lex: Alive? Dead?  _

_ Felix: I don't know. I heard it was a kid. Not a human one, obviously. The FBI claimed jurisdiction and took it. I haven’t heard anything about it since.  _

_ Lex: The alien ship. Was it a pod? Like the one Superman came to Earth in?  _

_ Felix: From what I heard, something like that. Like I said, the FBI took jurisdiction and they did it before my department even arrived on scene. When I got there it was already taped off. Pod was gone, agents were there to tell us to not worry about it.  _

_ Lex: Thanks Felix. Why don't I show you around?  _

The interview ends there and Lena knows whatever else is in this file is exactly what she is looking for. 

_ Superman’s Cousin, Subject 0  _

_ Lex: You will be referred to as subject 0. We don't use names in my lab. Keeps me from feeling bad.  _

_ Felix: Good one.  _

_ Subject 0: So what do I call you then? Or is the name Lex evil enough to be devoid of all meaning?  _

_ Lex: Nice vocabulary. _

_ S0: Why am I here? Haven't you had enough with superman? You need me too? _

_ Lex: You’re Kryptonian. You have powers on this planet. I figured, why not put you to good use and use you to make a superior being. Don’t look at me like that. Felix, go ahead.  _

_ Felix: Yes sir.  _

_ Lex: Feel that? That's Kryptonite. Your lovely family has protected you from this from the day you got here. No more of that. If you want it to stop, you will cooperate. Turn it off Felix.  _

_ S0: My family will find me.  _

_ Lex: Just as stubborn as your cousin. Now listen; I want to protect the human race. I have a little sister, not much older than you and she’s smart, but she doesn’t understand what you could do to hurt us. I figured a half human, half kryptonian would do the trick. It couldn’t turn it's back on the human side. There's no Krypton! It could protect us.  _

_ S0: If you are implying what I think you are, don't you think they would inherit the loyalty that has been passed down for generations on Krypton?  _

_ Lex: That's what Kryptonite is for.  _

Lena stops reading there. So those were his intentions for Marley. The thought has crossed her mind before, but she barely let it. Her sweet Marley, being made with the intention of being Lex’s puppet? It is an unbearable thought. She's a child.  _ Her child.  _

Lena continues reading out of curiosity. She needs to know who this woman is. 

_ Who this girl is.  _ Lena thinks. Lex had said he had a sister not much older than her. Lena flips over to the front, searching for the date of the  _ interview.  _ 2011\. Lena would have been 18, maybe 19. What Lex said implied the girl was younger,  _ a child.  _

Lena throws the file, burying her head in her hands. The fact that Lex hurt someone at all is unbearable to Lena, but a child? How could he? 

What is stopping him from doing the same thing to Marley?

Maybe Dr. Q’in was right. 

Her thinking is skewed by her phone going off. It’s Jess. 

“Hey Jess, everything okay?” She asks, doing her best to try and sound like she hadn’t just learned something life changing. 

“Marley’s teacher is here to drop off Marley. Where are you?” 

“Oh! Is it that late already? I’ll be up soon. Tell Kara she doesn’t have to stay.” 

“You got it, Miss Luthor.” Jess says before disconnecting the phone. Lena rushes upstairs and what normally takes her 20 minutes only takes her 10, so she figures she did good. 

“Marley!” Lena says, upon seeing her daughter. She rushes over to her, pulling her into her arms. “I’m sorry. Mommy was in the lab working.” 

“It's okay! Miss K hung out with me!” Lena looks up and Kara is standing above them, smiling like always. 

“You didn’t have to stay.”    
  
“Well then how would I have seen you?” Kara asks.

“That's very sweet of you. Thank you for staying and keeping her company.” Lena stands up and looks down to Marley. “Marls, why don't you say goodbye to Miss Danvers and go start your homework? Momma needs to make a phone call.” 

“Bye Miss K!” Marley says enthusiastically, running over and hugging her legs. 

Kara smiles, returning the hug. “Bye Marley. I will see you tomorrow.” 

After Marley is out of the room, Lena looks up from the floor to Kara. “Kara? Thank you for being such good company. I’ve never met anyone quite like you and I’m not sure I ever will again.” 

“Uh, yeah, of course, Lena. Is everything okay?” Kara looks obviously confused and concerned and it pains Lena. She hates that she's doing this.    
  


Lena smiles sadly and approaches Kara, hugging her tightly. “Just thank you.” Lena says again, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. As she walks away into her office she doesn’t look at Kara again. She can't bear to, this is hard enough as it is. 

After a few minutes pass she walks back out into the hallway, praying Kara has already left. When she sees that she has, Lena makes her way to Jess’ desk.

“Jess. I need to talk to you.” Lena says, before turning and walking back to her office again. Jess knows to follow her. When they are both seated she speaks again. “You’re getting a raise.”

Jess exhales with relief. “This is what this is about? You scared me.” 

Lena folds her hands together. “You’re getting a raise because for the time being Samantha Arias is going to be the acting CEO. I need you to train her. You know better than anyone else how to make sure this company is run correctly.” 

“What? Lena-” 

“I want you to hire a temporary CFO and two new assistants.” 

“Lena, what is going on? What about you?” 

“Marley and I are in danger and we need to leave for a bit. I don't know how long.” 

“Where are you going?” Jess asks in a panic. She has watched Lena grow from just barely a teenager taking over an entire company to the strong, independent woman she knew today. She had more care for Lena and Marley than probably anyone else. They are family. 

“If I knew, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. It’s my brother. Until I find out where he is and what he is planning, I can’t risk anything. He’s going to be after Marley.” 

Lena and Jess finish their talk in tears. Lena, even more so, out of frustration of not being able to tell Jess why Marley was a target. They hug and Jess leaves the office with a promise of keeping her company running, hiring the best people she can, and making sure Kara knows that Lena is sorry. 

When she is alone in her office she sits down and picks up her phone.

“Hi, Dr. Q’in? You were right. We need to leave. Tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for taking so long on this chapter. It's been quite chaotic these last couple weeks but since I have a lot of free time now, hopefully I can write more! 
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy with everything going on! 
> 
> Thank you for reading and please continue leaving comments! They make my day!


	9. A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Marley are introduced to their new home and Kara deals with the stress of not knowing where Lena is.

“Where the hell are we?” Lena asks, after an excruciating eight hour non-stop flight followed by a two hour drive. Lena had spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out the time since they weren’t allowed to bring phones, or really anything that associated them with their identities in National City.    
  
She knew they had been picked up from their apartment at around 11:00 P.M. 30 minutes to the airport and an assumed 30 minutes to board was midnight. An eight hour flight, 30 minutes of unboarding, and a two hour drive puts them roughly at 10:30 A.M. but that's without a time change and she knows you can’t fly eight hours without one. 

Lena is looking at a beautiful coastline, so she figures it must be the east coast. It looks cold out though, and the sun is nowhere to be found so she concludes they are somewhere in New England. 

“Michigan.” The man who she had been introduced to as Director Hank Henshaw speaks up. “More specifically, Marquette, Michigan. We are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

She should have known better seeing as the coastline is north of her, not east. She chalks it up to jet lag. 

“What time is it?”

“1:45 in the afternoon.” He replies. “We’re on our way to where you will be staying now, but I should probably acquaint you with your new identities.” Director Henshaw pulls out a file and then a birth certificate. “Lena, you are Sybil Tillman. Born in New York City. You moved here in search of a small town to raise your daughter. You will be working in research at the local university.” 

“Sybil Tillman.” Lena laughs. “Okay, and Marley?” 

“Mia Tillman. Born in NYC. Father is deceased. Age nine.” 

“Nine? Marley is six. She looks six. How will we pull that off?” 

“It will be fine, but we need to cover up her abilities at least a little bit. She will be in the third grade so she will still come off as advanced, but hopefully it won’t raise any alarms.” 

Lena nods. “I guess that makes sense.”

“We’re here.” He announces and Lena looks out the window. It’s a home, not an apartment and it looks fairly big.    
  


“It's nice.” Lena comments, allowing her mind to wander. She loved living in her apartment in National City, but she has always longed for a home as well. Maybe she and Marley can get a dog now. She turns to Marley, who is fast asleep beside her. “Marls?” Marley’s eyes flutter and when she realizes they are to their destination she sits up and looks out the window. 

“This is where we are on vacation?” She asks and Lena looks ashamed. She hasn’t told Marley what is going on. Lena told her they were going away for the week. She figured it would be easier to explain it to her once they had arrived and avoid the possible meltdown while they were trying to leave.

Lena nods. “We’ll talk more once we are inside.” 

Lena looks to Director Henshaw. “Let's get you two inside, and i’ll let you guys talk. Sound good?” 

If it weren’t for the circumstances, Lena decides she would choose this house over and over again. It’s beautiful and the area is too. Unfortunately though, something tells her the Upper Peninsula of Michigan isn’t going to have some of the luxuries she is used to having in National City. 

The house is pretty empty, but decorators are moving furniture in as they speak. “There's three bedrooms upstairs. A master bedroom and two others.” Director Henshaw says. Lena decides it will be the perfect opportunity for Marley to choose her own bedroom. 

“Hey, let's go upstairs.” Lena says to Marley, grabbing her hand and leading her to the top floor. “Mommy needs to talk to you.” 

Lena finds the master bedroom and pulls Marley inside, shutting the door behind them. It hasn’t been furnished completely yet so they sit down on the floor. 

“Marley, I need to tell you the truth.” Lena says, taking a breath. “This isn’t a vacation. We are going to stay here for a while.”

Marley is quiet for a moment trying her best to process the information in her six year old brain. She may be a genius, but she's still six. “Like we’re moving here?” 

Lena nods her head. “Yes. Like we’re moving here. It's to keep us safe.” 

It breaks Lena’s heart putting her daughter through something like this and watching her try and understand and figure out why doesn’t help. She knows deep down though that she would rather put Marley through this than whatever Lex has in store for her. “Why Momma?” 

“Remember how we talked about where you came from? My brother?” Lena asks and Marley nods. “Sweetie, my brother is a very bad man and I’m afraid that when he made you, his intentions weren’t good. He knew you would have those amazing powers, baby, and he wanted to do bad things with them.” Marley is silent so Lena continues. “Now that you are starting to get your powers, I need to keep you safe. We will stay here and pretend to be different people for now, okay? And the nice people who brought us here are going to look for my brother and make sure it's safe for us and then hopefully we can go back.” 

“What about my friends at school? And Miss K?” Marley asks. 

Lena’s heart sinks at the mention of Kara. She has done her best to keep her mind off of her for this exact reason. “When we go back, they’ll still be there.” Lena responds, trying to actually convince herself of that. 

She's gone through it in her head. Who knows when they will be cleared to go back to National City and continue their lives. It could be years, and when they do who’s to say Kara would even be interested in seeing Lena? She would have every right to be angry. Lena up and left without a real goodbye or an explanation of where they were going. She hopes, when the time comes, that Kara will find it in her heart to try and understand, but Lena doesn’t expect her to. 

“I know this is hard to understand baby but this is what we have to do for now.” 

“I know you just want me safe, Mommy.” Marley replies and Lena’s heart bursts. How a six year old can understand so simply, she can’t figure it out because even she is still trying to wrap her mind around it and accept it. 

Lena pulls Marley into a tight hug. “Do you want to go pick out your bedroom?” She asks and Marley looks at her with her contagious smile. 

Despite the chaos, all is well with the two of them. 

Back in National City Kara Danvers is anxiously pacing around her classroom. Her students are at lunch and will be for the next 45 minutes. Except for one of them. Marley Luthor. 

_ Where the hell is Marley.  _

_ And WHY the hell won’t Lena respond?  _

Kara texted Lena this morning before school started asking if everything was okay and although it was very unlike Kara Danvers, she checked her phone multiple times throughout the morning hoping for a reply from Lena. 

Now it's lunchtime and she has called Lena twice and even emailed her. Rao, she's embarrassing. 

Kara finally decides worrying is not going to do her any good and convinces herself that something came up. Marley had been  _ sick  _ the previous week and came back to school with lead-lined glasses. Lena was probably just trying to get a hold on her daughter's powers that were obviously starting to come in. She will be back tomorrow and everything will be fine. 

Despite her convincing, Kara decides to text Lena one more time. 

**To: Lena Luthor :)**

**Hey, sorry for texting again. I know I’ve been blowing up your phone but I was worried. I’m just letting you know that I will stop blowing up your phone. Hope everything is alright. See you tomorrow????**

Kara throws her phone into her purse and begins eating her lunch, only lying to herself that her anxiety has been eased. Something feels off, but she's choosing to ignore it for now. 

After school she drives by L-Corp wishing for a reason to stop in and talk to Lena. It has quickly become her favorite thing to do. She shrugs it off and decides to stop at her favorite chinese restaurant instead because she needs something to fill the void today has left her with.    
  


She curses herself for being so dramatic since Lena and Marley were probably just dealing with something but that doesn’t stop her from ordering the large family meal that is meant to feed six people. 

She checks her phone while waiting for her food and again before she gets into her car. She checks it again the minute she puts her car in park. When she's inside her apartment still without a text from Lena she sighs and considers looking up her address and going to her house, but she decides that crosses a line.

She puts on a trashy reality TV show and dives into her food. If nothing else, it makes her forget about the Lena situation at least temporarily. 

Even after the food is gone she allows herself to be distracted by whatever is on the TV for the next few hours. The only time she looks up is when her phone goes off. 

It startles her and she immediately moves from her laying position to a sitting position searching for her phone.  _ Could it be Lena?  _

When she finds it, she takes a deep breath before viewing the notification. 

**From: Alex**

Kara sighs before reading her sister's message.

**Hey sis, I had to fly out on short notice. I should be back tomorrow when you are out of work. We need to have a conversation when I’m back. Can we meet at your place?**

Kara rolls her eyes. What could be so important that Alex needed to give her a heads up but not important enough to just call and talk to her about?

**To: Alex**

**Yes, that's fine. Be safe wherever you are.**

Kara glaces to the clock, it’s only six and she decides that she needs to get out. She knows exactly where she needs to go. 

Midvale. 

Eliza always gives good advice. 

She packs a bag after deciding she wants to sleep in her old bed tonight. She needs safety and comfort and her lonely house just does not give that to her. When she's out on her balcony and she does a double check that nobody is looking and she takes off, soaring into the sky faster than any plane could even imagine going. 

_ Rao, she wishes she flew more often.  _

She almost does an extra lap just to blow off some steam but when she's hovering just hundreds of feet above her home in Midvale, she can barely stand to be in the air anymore. She's home. She lowers herself to the ground and goes to the door to knock. She knows she is welcome without knocking at any time, but she figures just walking in would probably frighten Eliza so she decides against it. 

A few moments pass and the door opens and when Eliza recognizes her daughter she smiles. “Kara! I wasn’t expecting you. Come in!” Kara steps inside and falls into Eliza’s arms nearly pushing her over. “Oh honey, what's going on?” 

“Everything is so confusing.” Kara replies. Eliza smiles understandingly and leads Kara to the living room. 

“Life can get that way sometimes. Do you want to talk about it? I can try and help.” 

Kara nods, but she's silent for a while. “I’m embarrassed.” 

“About what? You don't have to be embarrassed with me. I will never judge you.” 

“I have feelings that have really been confusing me lately.” Kara says. “I just can't seem to sort them out.”

“Feelings about what dear?” 

“Lena.” 

Eliza nods, stroking Kara’s hair. “You know, when Alex came to me a couple of years ago to tell me she was gay, it didn’t come as a suprise. I had known that since she was eleven years old. It took her longer to figure out because we live in a society where you are encouraged to fit in and be normal and even though being gay is accepted by so many, it's not considered a norm. So even when you’re not against the idea of someone else being gay, you are actively trying to make sure you’re not the one going against the standard.” 

“But I didn’t grow up in a society like that, Eliza. Sexuality was non-existent. It was so much more simple. If you had feelings for someone, you pursued them.” 

Eliza nods. “And that's why I never expected you to adhere to whatever the norm was on this planet. What is causing this struggle?” 

“Once I got here, so many people were constantly reminding me to do everything in my power to fit in. Act human. I still do everything I can to lead a normal human life so that I can be a teacher and have friends. I guess being gay, or whatever, just feels so wrong to me because I have this desire to be as normal as possible. I can’t stand out or bring attention to myself.” 

“I think all of us adults should have been better at talking to you about that. You were just a kid. We wanted to protect you, but putting it in your head that not being yourself was the way to do it was wrong of us. Besides, look at your sister. She lives a badass life and it doesn’t make a difference that she is married to a woman. If you have feelings then allow yourself to have feelings. Be happy Kara.” 

“That's the problem.” Kara says, a tear rolling down her face. She knows this is ridiculous, one day of not talking to Lena and she's in her childhood home having a breakdown, but something feels off and she just can’t figure it out. “Lena didn’t bring Marley to school today and I can’t get a hold of her. I'm scared she has decided that she doesn’t want me in her life or Marley’s.”

“Sure, in an extreme situation that could be plausible, but has Lena ever done anything that makes you think she would do that to you?” Kara shakes her head. “I think it's important to remember that Lena is an adult with a child. Things come up. She's also a very busy woman and I think you should consider that she's doing something important and doesn’t have time to call or text before you assume it's personal against you, Kara.” 

“Yeah. I know. You’re right, Eliza.” 

Eliza wraps her arms around her daughter and hugs her tightly. “I assume you’re staying the night?” 

Kara nods, burrowing her face into the comfort of Eliza’s shoulder. 

It’s 10:00 P.M. in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Lena has Marley settled into her room and asleep and she is extremely ready to get these agents out of her new home. 

“Miss Luthor, I have an agent who will be here any minute that will be helping you out in the morning to find Marley’s school and your job. They will be bringing a cellphone that will allow you to contact us.” 

Lena nods. “Thank you for working with us Director Henshaw.” 

“I only hope this is extremely temporary. We will be doing whatever we can to find Lex Luthor so we can move you back to National City.” 

“Director Henshaw, not to sound untrustworthy but do you think this is safe enough? I mean, someone could recognize me. Even if they don’t, we are not off the grid here. Couldn’t we still be found?” 

“If there is any sort of suspicion we will move you. Our program has never failed.” 

“That's promising at least.” 

“My agent is here.” Director Henshaw says, heading to the door and opening it. A few moments later a woman walks inside and is greeted fondly by the director. “Miss Luthor this is my top agent, Agent Danvers.”

Once again, Lena’s heart drops. Danvers. Could it be a coincidence? 

“Agent Danvers? Are you-” 

Lena starts, but she is quickly cut off by the agent. “Kara Danvers sister? I’ve heard a lot about you Miss Luthor. And don't worry I keep my work life private.” 

“Wait, do you have to? Can you tell Kara-” 

Lena is interrupted again, this time by Director Henshaw. “Miss Luthor, I’m sorry but it's just not a good idea to let anyone know where you are or what is going on. It risks too much on your end and on the other person’s end.” 

Lena nods. She understands, she really does, but god her heart breaks at the thought of Kara confused and alone. Not that she's alone, she has plenty of people in her life. Maybe Lena is thinking too much into this. Maybe Kara won’t even be phased at Lena disappearing from her life. She has her sister and her sister’s wife, her niece, and probably endless amounts of friends who can easily take whatever place Lena has in Kara’s life. Just because Kara means the world to Lena does not mean Kara feels the same way. She is simply just her students' parent, Lena convinces herself. This won't even affect Kara’s life. 

“You’re absolutely right. My feelings got ahead of my brain, I apologize.” Lena says, devoid of feeling. 

She hates the way Agent Danvers looks at her. The look on her face reeks of sympathy and even sadness for Lena. She doesn’t want it. She decides right then and there that the only way to make it through this is without feeling, or too much of it anyway. 

“Miss Luthor, I just wanted to introduce myself and give you this.” Agent Danvers says, putting a phone on the table. “We’ll head out now, but I will be back in the morning to acquaint you with the town and show you to Marley’s school and your new job.” Agent Danvers waits for an affirmative nod from Lena and then heads out the door with Director Henshaw and the rest of the agents, shutting it behind them. 

Lena looks around the newly empty house. It's not actually empty, of course. Lots of furniture had been moved in within the last few hours. Couches, chairs, TV’s, appliances… Everything they need to live comfortably. Despite this, it still feels empty and so extremely lonely. She doesn’t know anyone here and she doesn’t plan to know anyone here. The last thing she wants is to make a friend and then suddenly be ripped away from them. All she has is Marley and that is all she needs. 

With that she makes her way upstairs and into Marley’s new bedroom. She watches her sleep for a moment before picking up her sleeping child and carrying her into the master bedroom. She figures neither of them want to be alone on their first night in this new place. After lying down Lena quickly falls asleep despite the jet lag having her convinced it's much earlier than it is. 

Besides, what is jet lag anyway if it isn’t hitting you at the absolute worst time? 

Her alarm blares at 6:30 a.m. and Lena’s body is not having it with the 7 hours of sleep. She is clearly still on National City time meaning it should definitely still be the middle of the night. She curses a bit and finally sits up enough to turn the alarm off and the bedside lamp on. She's only a little startled by the sight of her daughter hovering an inch or two above the bed. 

She puts her arms under Marley, grabbing her out of the air and lightly placing her back onto the bed. She will wake her up in a bit, after breakfast is ready. 

There's plenty of fresh fruit so Lena decides on something light; fruit bowls and toast. She hates to admit it but she's feeling extra anxious today. It's not often you have to start an entire new life. 

As soon as she is nearly done making breakfast, Marley’s feet come pattering down the stairs. “Good morning baby.” Lena says happily. Sometimes all you need to relieve your nerves is a bit of love.

“Mornin’ Mommy.” 

“How did you sleep?”

Marley shrugs. “I think good.” 

Lena chuckles slightly, putting food in front of her daughter at the table. It's refreshing to hear Marley sound like the child she is. It's easy to forget how young she is when listening to her talk most of the time. 

“So, it's a big day. You're going to a new school for a while. Do you remember how I said we are going to pretend to be different people?” Marley nods. “Your teacher's name is Mrs. Reid. It's a third grade class. Are you sure you’re okay with that?” 

“Miss K said that I’m so smart I could be in high school!” 

Lena smiles and nods agreeingly doing her best to not think about Kara. “And you remember your name?” 

“Mia Ann Tillman.” 

“How old are you?” 

“I am nine years old!” Marley giggles. 

“Okay two more questions; What's your mother and father’s names?” 

“Sybil Tillman. I don't know my dad, he died.” 

“And where are you from?” 

“I’m from Manhattan! New York City! I went to a private school there.” 

“Good baby. You have it memorized.”

Lena gets herself ready after helping pick out Marley’s outfit and doing her hair for her. As every minute passes, her nerves increase and it gets harder to contain them. She spent her entire life learning to conceal any type of feeling, but one of the feelings she rarely felt was anxiety. She may have been traumatized as a child but she was always confident in what she was doing, so this is new. 

Just as Lena is coming down the stairs Agent Danvers knocks on the door. 

“Good morning Agent Danvers.” Lena says, maybe a little colder than she means to. She has nothing against Kara’s sister, but the fact that she's Kara’s sister causes some issues in her head. She's doing everything in her power to not think about Kara so having Kara’s sister standing in front of her definitely tests her. 

“Good morning Miss Luthor- or I guess I should be calling you Miss Tillman. Anyway, good morning.” 

“I'm going to go get Marley.” Lena walks away to get Marley and returns with her seconds later. “Agent Danvers, this is my daughter Marley. Marley this is Agent Danvers.”

Agent Danvers stares at Marley for a few seconds in what almost seems like awe, but Lena clears her throat. “Everything okay Agent Danvers?” 

“Huh?” She asks, snapping her head up. “Oh. Yes, sorry. It's nice to meet you Marley.” 

“It's nice to meet you too Agent Danvers.” Marley says, looking up to Lena. “Mommy isn’t that Miss K’s last name too?” 

Agent Danvers and Lena make eye contact. “Must be a coincidence.” Agent Danvers says, relieving some stress from Lena. “We should go.” 

Lena helps Marley into the big SUV and climbs in the front passenger seat next to Alex. “A car will be delivered to you at work this afternoon. Nothing too flashy, gotta fit in.”

“Okay.” Lena replies. 

“We will take Marley to school first. It's only 7:30 now, but her school starts at 8:20. I figured you would need a headstart to meet with the principal and her teacher.” Lena is silent as they drive the two blocks to Marley’s new school. The building is small, even smaller than the school she attended in National City. “There's four elementary schools here, so it's not really as small of a town as it seems. This one is closest so that's why she is enrolled here. They have gardens and teach a lot of hands-on skills.” Agent Danvers parks the car and looks at Lena. “I can’t join you going in, but I will wait here.” 

Lena nods. “Ready Marley?” 

“Remember, Sybil and Mia Tillman.” Agent Danvers reminds them. The two of them walk into the small building together taking it in for the first time. The office is located directly past the main entrance so it isn’t hard to find. 

“Excuse me? Hi, it's my daughter's first day here. I think I'm supposed to meet with the principal and her teacher?” Lena asks the secretary, a little unsure of herself. 

The lady smiles back brightly. “Yes of course. Let me get Mr. Robinson right now.” She stands up and walks to a door in the back, knocking on it slightly. She enters and then returns a few moments later. “Go on in.” 

Lena takes Marley’s hand and leads her into the office. “Hello! You must be Mia Tillman and Mia’s mother, correct?” 

“That would be us.” Lena smiles, extending her hand. “Sybil Tillman.”

“Well, Mrs. Tillman it is a pleasure to have the both of you.” The principal types on his computer silently for a moment before looking to the both of them. “It looks like Mia’s teacher Mrs. Reid is in now. Why don't I walk you to the classroom to meet her and give you two a bit of a tour on the way?” 

Mr. Robinson walks Lena and Marley through the school showing them everything that sets it aside from the other elementary schools in the district, however Lena couldn't care less about comparing the other schools in the area because she finds herself comparing everything to Central Elementary School. 

_ The ceilings are higher at Kara’s school.  _

_ Kara’s school has a bigger gymnasium.  _

_ You call that a playground? You should see Kara’s school.  _

Lena rolls her eyes at her inner dialogue. How will she survive if she can’t even get Kara’s name out of her head while having a tour of Marley’s new school? 

“And finally we have Mrs. Reid’s classroom. She is one of our top teachers and she has been teaching for nearly thirty years!” He says opening the door. “Hello, Mrs. Reid!” 

A lady pops up from behind the desk. She’s older, plump with white hair, and she reminds Lena of someone’s grandma. “Well hello, Mr. Robinson! Do you have my newest student with you today?” She says, all bubbly exactly like you would expect from a third grade teacher. Lena decides that although she's not Kara, she's definitely not as bad as some of the teachers her daughter could have gotten stuck with. 

“I do. This is Mia Tillman and her mother Sybil. Mia, this is your teacher, Mrs. Reid.” 

The teacher approaches them more, extending a hand to Lena and shaking it and then doing the same to Marley. “Where are you two coming from?” She asks. 

“Manhattan!” Marley says, a little too excitedly. 

Mrs. Reid’s eyes go wide. “And what on earth brought you to Michigan? That is quite the change.” 

“I’ve grown up in the big city all of my life.” Lena starts, quite liking the idea of playing a character. “It’s fun of course, but it's busy and dangerous and I decided my daughter deserves better.” 

Mrs. Reid smiles at Lena, “Well I think you chose an excellent place to move to! You know, Marquette is Michigan’s biggest city in the Upper Peninsula.” 

“So I’ve heard.” Lena replies.

“I ensure you, Mrs. Tillman, Mia will be in good hands here. I started teaching late in life, but before I was a teacher I worked at a church daycare for nearly fifteen years. I love little ones, so much and I enjoy teaching. I’m sure she will be great.”

“That is very comforting. I would like to warn you though that Mia might be above the rest of the students and may require a little extra attention. She went to a private school back home.” 

“I think we will be just fine.” Mrs. Reid says. “Will you be picking Mia up from school today?” Lena nods, assuming she will be. “Then I will evaluate and we can discuss.” 

“That sounds great, thank you Mrs. Reid.” Lena says, dropping to the floor to hug Marley. “Have a good day. I love you baby.” 

After a few more goodbyes, Lena exits the classroom and then the building making her way back to the large black SUV.

“Everything good?” Agent Danvers asks when Lena shuts the door. 

“As good as they will get, I suppose.” Lena says, getting a nod in return from Agent Danvers.

“You’ll be working part-time, from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. You will be out in time to pick up Marley. Don’t worry about money, we will be supplementing you.” 

“Sounds good. What's this job again?” 

“Research assistant.”

“Assistant?” 

“Yes, Miss Luthor. I’m going to show you around town now.” 

The small town vibes are prevalent but there is much more to this place than Lena expected. Restaurants, bars, people, and a beautiful lake that goes on for longer than you can see. She could get used to this. 

Agent Danvers shows her to her new job and is saying her goodbyes before Lena can even get out of the car. 

“Wait. This feels off limits but I’m going to ask anyway. I put a check in the mail for Kara. For the school. Will you just make sure it gets to her?” Lena asks. 

Agent Danvers nods and is looking at her again with the look of sympathy. Lena can’t for the life of her figure out where it is coming from. “Yes.” Lena quickly thanks her and begins climbing out of the car. “And Lena?” Agent Danvers calls out quietly, ensuring no one can hear her being called by her name. 

Lena turns back looking at her. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. I’m going to personally make sure we can get you home as soon as possible. You don’t deserve this.  _ Marley  _ doesn’t deserve this.” 

“Thank you Agent Danvers.” Lena says before turning back and making her way into the building. Kara described her sister as kind of a hardass and if she normally is, something about this situation has really brought out the soft side of her. Oh well, she decides to shrug it off. She has a new job to worry about. 

And so does Kara. Well, not a new one, but she does have a job to worry about and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to do so. She was up all night at Eliza’s trying to convince herself that everything was fine. Eliza calmed her nerves a bit but apparently when it comes to Lena, the only thing that calms Kara down is seeing her. 

So she let's the hours pass at work doing everything she can to distract herself from even the thought of Lena and Marley because they didn't show up again. She decides to call Lena again after work on the way home to meet Alex and so that's what she focuses on as she goes through the day. 

After all of her students are gone, the first thing Kara does is pull out her phone. She has a text from Alex from a little less than an hour ago. 

**From: Alex**

**I’m waiting at your place.**

Kara doesn’t respond, she figures Alex will see her soon enough. She dials Lena’s number and waits. 

“ _ I’m sorry but the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”  _

Kara’s heart stops. She hangs up and dials Lena’s number again.

“ _ I’m sorry but the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”  _

“No!” Kara yells, unable to control herself even a little bit. She hangs up and dials again 

“ _ I’m sorry but the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”  _

“No. No. No.” Kara cries, hyperventilating. How could Lena do this? Why did she leave? What did Kara do to make Lena abandon her so easily? 

She's about to call again, but there's an incoming call from Alex. 

Her hands are shaky but she manages to answer. “Hello?” 

“Kara? Are you okay? Are you on your way home?” Alex asks. 

“Lena…” Is all she manages before the phone beeps. Kara sits at her desk unable to do anything. She's known Lena for just over a week, why does it matter this much? She lost her entire world,  _ her family _ , this should be nowhere near as devastating but for some reason it is. 

Soon enough, Alex is running into Kara’s classroom dropping to her knees at her side and wrapping her in a hug. “Kara are you okay?” 

Kara shakes her head no. “Lena.” 

“Let's get you home and we can talk.” Alex looks at her sister, her heart broken for her knowing the truth and being unable to tell Kara everything. She will have to make do with what she _ can _ tell her but she isn’t sure it will mend Kara’s heart.

So instead she will do whatever it takes to find Lex Luthor. Anything to fix this for Kara. For Lena.  _ For her niece.  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, what are you guys thinking so far? What are you expecting in upcoming chapters?   
> And what would you LIKE to see in upcoming chapters? I'm always taking input!


	10. Thump Thump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara both continue to struggle.

_ Six months later, April 1st, 2019.  _

Everything is fine. As neutral as anything can be. Nothing is particularly good and nothing is particularly bad. That's good enough in Lena’s eyes.

Marley is used to her school. She likes her teacher and she is friends with all of the kids in her class. She is succeeding and even going above and beyond, just as Lena expected. 

They have a schedule. Every day of the week they wake up, get ready together, and eat breakfast at their little kitchen table. Lena drives Marley to school, kisses her forehead and then takes herself to work. 

_ Work.  _ It really isn’t that bad, but Lena is not too keen on being an assistant. She's meant to be the boss and that much is clear to everyone. She pushes through anyway because she knows it could be worse. Her daughter could be taken by her brother, who the DEO has yet to find, by the way. So the job isn’t unbearable and the people are nice enough. 

She has stopped going to bed every night with the expectation that soon Lex would be found and Lena and Marley could go back to National City. She has stopped dreaming about Kara and seeing her again. She doesn’t even think “ _ maybe one day”  _ anymore. Hoping, dreaming; None of that is beneficial to the situation. If she is able to go back to National City one day, then maybe she will reconnect with some of the people she knew before but spending her days thinking about what she might be able to do in a future that is all hypothetical anyway only makes things hurt more. 

Marley had more of a connection to Kara Danvers than she realized and it took three incredibly painful months of Lena listening to Marley talk about her before Marley finally either moved on or decided to stop talking about it. She hopes it isn’t the latter because that would imply that she noticed the pain in Lena’s eyes every time Kara’s name slipped out of her mouth. 

Agent Danvers makes a trip every month to update them on the situation and basically beg for any information that Lena knows that could lead them to Lex. Lena gives her what she can; Instructions on how to access Lex’s files and Lillian’s most recent phone number. The last Lena knew, they were still combing carefully through Lex’s files trying to find anything that could help. That was the beginning of the month. She's expecting Agent Danvers soon and she plans to tell her that her monthly visits are no longer necessary. What is the point if she is only bringing bad news? She can do that over a phone call. 

Lena’s alarm goes off waking her for the dreadful Monday. She remembers when Monday’s weren't so bad. They were productive and busy and always fast. That was in National City. Here, Monday’s consist of wishing it were still the weekend and killer headaches from the wine she downs after Marley is fast asleep. Sunday night wine has become somewhat of a tradition for Lena simply because she has nothing better to do and it's easier than letting herself start to think about things that are long gone. 

Lena rummages through her nightstand finding the bottle of extra strength tylenol that she leaves in there for this exact reason. The bottle says take two so obviously Lena takes four. She forces herself out of bed wondering why she even bothers with doing any of this anyway. It's not her real life. She doesn’t need the money. Marley could skip years of school and still be ahead of her classmates. Ah, right.  _ Marley.  _ She's doing this for Marley, she reminds herself, turning her lights on and wincing before heading to her bathroom to shower and hopefully rid herself of some of this hangover. 

The shower does help and Lena wishes she could remember that for next week when she has to convince herself to do the same thing. After putting her hair into a towel and tying her robe around herself, Lena makes her way to Marley’s room to wake her up. She struggles to push her door open so she reaches her hand in and flips on the light. There are toys everywhere, but especially piled up behind the door making it extra hard for Lena to enter the room. 

“Marley!” Lena says angrily under her breath. Marley isn’t actually meant to hear this, and any normal child wouldn’t, but thanks to Marley’s super-hearing she sits up and rubs her eyes.    
  


“Huh?” She asks, looking around the room slightly startled. She isn’t quite used to the super-hearing being as prominent as it is. It has developed a lot in the last 6 months, as has a lot of the powers that they had been expecting.    
  


“Sorry baby. I can’t get in your room, you need to pick these toys up.” Marley nods. “I’m going to go start breakfast. You get dressed.” Lena tells her, releasing the door and heading to the first story of the house. “Shit.” Lena curses upon walking down the stairs and noticing the black SUV parked in the road in front of her house.  _ Not suspicious at all _ . 

You would think a government agency would be better at being discreet. Despite wishing she could just ignore them, she turns on the porch light and opens the door staring at the black car until it finally opens and Agent Danvers steps out. Lena doesn’t wait for her and heads into the kitchen taking out the pancake mix that she had made the day before. She hears the front door close and lock. 

“Good morning Miss Luthor.” 

“Couldn’t even wait until after I got out of work?” Lena asks. 

“Sorry, but I have to be back to National City before tonight.” Lena ignores her, pouring pancake batter onto her pan. “Anyway, I just came to update you and check on everything here.” 

“Yeah, actually… I was wondering if that is necessary? Month after month you have come to tell me that you haven’t found Lex and you don’t have any leads. Maybe from now on you can just call to disappoint me?” 

“That's the thing. We do have a lead. We have been working it for a couple of weeks.” Agent Danvers says, looking all too proud of herself. A lead after six months of working a case?  _ Great job Detective.  _ “We were able to hack undetected into Lex’s database. We’re working on decoding the other IP address that it's being accessed from.” 

“I would be so much more useful in National City helping the DEO. He’s my brother. I know him and I could have had that decoded weeks ago.” 

“While that probably is true Lena, our number one priority of Marley. We need you here to keep her safe. I know you understand that.” Agent Danvers says. 

Lena throws the spatula for the pancakes to Agent Danvers. “Flip those in a second.” She tells her before walking away. 

Agent Danvers doesn’t get a chance to argue so she stands at the stove awkwardly and flips the pancakes like Lena told her to. Lena comes back moments later with a notepad. “I wrote down a couple of ideas on how to decode the IP address. Give me the spatula, you’re going to burn my pancakes.” 

Agent Danvers hands Lena the spatula, taking the notepad out of her hand. “That's why I became a government agent and not a chef. Thank you, Lena.” 

“If I don't help I don't think you will ever find him.” 

Agent Danvers rolls her eyes at Lena. “You know, we are actually quite competent. They don't let just anyone into a secret government agency.” 

“I’m not saying you’re not competent, I’m just saying you don't know Lex Luthor like I do. I think we can both agree on that.” Lena says, putting the plates at the table and walking out of the kitchen to the bottom on the stairs. “Marley?” A few moments later Marley comes down the stairs. “Agent Danvers is here and breakfast is ready.” 

Upon hearing that, Marley races to the kitchen. “Agent Danvers!” 

“Marley.” Agent Danvers smiles. “I told you to call me Alex, remember?” Agent Danvers digs in her bag pulling out two quarters. “Oregon and North Carolina!” 

“Yes!” Marley says. “Mommy, Alex brought me two more quarters for my collection!” Marley’s state quarter collection started a month after they moved to Michigan. Agent Danvers brought her a California quarter and a Michigan quarter in hopes of lifting her spirits. It did, so the next month she brought two more quarters and a book to put them in. Every time she comes she always has two more. 

“I see baby. What do you say?” 

“Thank you Alex! I gotta go put these in my book!” Marley says running back to her room to place the quarters in their designated spot. 

“Thank you for doing that.” Lena says. “It gives her something to focus on.” 

Agent Danvers smiles softly. “I’m glad I could help.” She stands from the kitchen chair she is sitting at and looks at Lena. “I can’t stay much longer. There's some things I have to deal with back home.” 

Lena does her best to hide her sadness at Alex’s words. Not the part where she is leaving, the  _ back home _ part. She spent months thinking about  _ back home _ and she has spent even more months now forcing herself to not think about it. “No worries Agent Danvers. Thanks for the update.” 

Agent Danvers shakes Lena’s hand, as she always does, and when Marley comes downstairs they share a hug and goodbyes. “I love when Alex comes Mommy.” 

“I know you do baby. Sit down and eat your breakfast.” Lena tells her, watching the black SUV pull off. 

Alex hates leaving Kara. 

Ever since Alex confirmed what Kara had been guessing since she met Marley, Kara became distant, maybe even depressed. 

What Alex doesn’t realize is that it isn’t the fact that Marley Luthor is her biological daughter that has Kara so down; it’s the fact that Marley is her biological daughter and she isn’t even allowed to see her. She doesn’t know where Lena and Marley are and it weighs on her every single day. 

There's still a desk open for Marley in her classroom. Kara’s students left candy for halloween, gifts for Christmas, and cards on Valentines Day for her. They used to sit piled on Marley’s desk but the pile eventually got too big so Kara moved it to a box behind her desk. She will give it to her one day. 

Not only does Kara have gifts from her students to Marley but she has Christmas gifts wrapped from herself to Marley still under a tree at her house. Alex has teased her for still having her tree up, but Kara decides to not put it down until Marley can open her presents. 

Every single day Kara writes in a journal for Marley so that one day when they are together again, Marley doesn’t have to feel like she’s missed out on anything. Sometimes so much happens that Kara has to write in it twice a day.

She started the journal the day Alex told her. 

_ “Kara, Lena didn’t leave you. She had to leave.”  _

_ It took Alex an hour to get Kara out of her classroom and home onto her couch. They sat in silence for thirty minutes before Alex finally got the courage to talk.  _

_ “You were right Kara. About Marley. We had to move them until we can find Lex Luthor. They’re in danger.”  _

Of course there was more to it than that but Kara would rather not reminisce. She thought that the day it was confirmed would be the happiest day of her life. All of the sudden she would have a daughter, and her sister would have a niece. Emmie would have a cousin her own age to play with and Eliza would have  _ two _ granddaughters. She thought Lena would become family. They would have Thanksgiving dinner together, Christmas morning, New Years, Marley’s birthday. She thought everything would be together from then on.

She held hope for a long time that they would still get that but as each holiday passed Kara became more and more depressed and it got harder to do everything. 

She stopped asking for updates on Lex Luthor that Alex couldn’t give her anyway. She stopped begging Alex to tell her where Marley and Lena were. She stopped talking to Alex like she used to because everyday that she didn’t see Marley and Lena added to the resentment that Alex knew and she didn’t. 

She saw Alex everyday when she dropped off and picked up Emmie from school. Alex stopped by often to try and get through to Kara. It's not that Kara doesn’t understand, it's just that she does understand and it's completely out of her control. 

In the last six months she's spent a lot of time at Eliza’s. She’s the only one who knows how much deeper the wound goes. It's not just about Marley and Alex could never understand that. It's Marley and Lena. Kara’s entire world was built up with the two of them in just two weeks and within a day it was taken from her just like Krypton was. 

It’s barely five in the morning in National City, but Kara barely sleeps anymore anyway. She sits at her desk in just the light of one lamp as she scribbles into Marley’s journal. 

_ Goodmorning, Marley. If you were here right now you would probably not be awake yet. If you’re anything like me you are not an early riser.  _

_ I remember back home, on Krypton, my mom basically had to pull me out of bed in the morning. She used to call me a night owl, although that’s not the exact translation. I’ll teach you Kryptonian one day and you will understand. Maybe it will be our thing. _

_ Today is Monday. I wonder what you are doing today? School? I hope you’re going to school. Today I’m going over new spelling words with your classmates today. I’ve decided to challenge them a little bit. One of the words is going to be ‘necessary’.  _

_ I miss you, little bird. I miss your mom too. I hope one day we can all be together again.  _

  
  


Kara stares at the words she's written before closing the journal. Her daily routine always begins with writing to Marley. It eases at least some of the pain, enough to get herself ready for work anyway. 

For six months Kara has been too afraid to ask the question that has been on her mind the most.  _ Does Lena know?  _

Not about Marley, she obviously knows about Marley, but does Lena know that Kara Danvers in Marley’s biological mother?

Kara has debated asking Alex every single day for six months but she's afraid of the answer. What if Lena does know and is angry with Kara for not telling her the truth before all of this? What if she knows and is not interested in letting another parent into Marley’s life? What if she  _ doesn’t  _ know and when the DEO does find Lex and they can come home Kara has to come clean and it makes Lena angry? 

Kara has thought about it from every angle possible and none of it is good. Even if Lena isn’t mad and wants Kara in Marley’s life there are still a hundred other reasons why it could turn out poorly. 

Today she's going to ask Alex. She promised her sister that she would go to her house for dinner and talk to her,  _ really talk to her _ for the first time in months. She's going to do it. She just needs to get through the day first. 

By the time lunch time rolls around, Kara has had it with her day. Mondays are always rough for the kids. It’s not that they’re bad, but even first graders prefer the weekend. They’re tired and grumpy, so Kara usually tries to plan something fun to grab their attention. 

Today though, Kara planned for a guest speaker to come in but they cancelled at the last minute leaving Kara without any plans for the afternoon for her class. 

She’s sitting at her desk trying her hardest to figure out a fun activity for the kids and to force herself to eat despite the lack of appetite she’s had for the last six months, when she feels something. 

It’s a weird feeling, one she's never really felt before. She tries to focus on it but for some reason she can’t. 

Then it hits her. She takes off her glasses and she tries again. 

_ Alex.  _

Alex had texted her early this morning saying that she was boarding the plane and would be home around two.

Kara searches for Alex’s heartbeat and as soon as she hears it, she speeds off without second guessing anything. She doesn’t care who sees her. She has no idea where her sister is, she just follows Alex’s rapid heartbeat until she sees a plane free falling seconds later. 

Kara doesn’t know where in the United States she is but all she knows is that the plane is falling directly over a large city and if she doesn’t do something, not only will she lose Alex, but so many other people could be hurt, even killed.

So despite the fact that she's in her work clothes and anyone can see her, Kara nosedives to the plane, using all of her strength to grab and hold onto it. 

She needs to try and move it away from the city but she is out of practice, although she’s never really been in practice enough to carry a plane anyway. 

The adrenaline rushes through Kara’s body and she knows that the only reasons she is able to carry this plane is because her sister is on it. She would find a way to carry ten planes if her sister was in danger. 

Kara spots an empty field and lowers the plane down, putting it to the ground as gently as possible. She wants so badly to stay and find Alex. She wants to pick her up and fly her home so she doesn’t have to get back on another plane, but she's risked her identity too much and Alex would not be happy if Kara pushed it even more. So she shoots into the sky making her way back to her apartment. She needs to somehow shower and get back to the school in ten minutes. 

Alex is lucky she was on her lunch break. 

Or maybe it's the school who was lucky because she would have left anyway. 

Kara ignores her phone until the end of the school day. She knows Alex would probably be blowing it up, managing to yell through text messages about how much danger she put herself in. She can’t be bothered with that though, she wouldn’t change a thing. She focused on Alex’s heartbeat for the remainder of the day, only needing to be reassured that she is safe. 

When she finally does check her phone it's worse than she thought. 

**Alex**

**34 New Texts**

**Alex**

**16 Missed Calls**

She dials Alex’s number, not bothering to read her messages first. When she hears the phone click she starts rambling.

“Alex I know you’re probably mad that I risked my identity but you were in danger and I’m not going to apologize for what I did. I couldn’t let you get hurt. You’re my sister. You have to understand. I had to-”

“Kara, shut up,” Alex interrupts her. “Have you seen the news?” 

“Uh, no? I’m at work.” 

“There's pictures of you Kara. I’m on my way back to my house now. You need to meet me there.” Alex ends the phone call leaving Kara frozen. 

She opens Alex’s messages and quickly finds that Alex had sent her the picture that someone took. It’s bad quality, clearly taken on a phone, and Kara is covered in whatever it was that came off the plane. You probably can’t tell it's her unless you know her well and maybe not even then.

With her nerves eased a little, Kara gathers her things and makes her way to her car. 

On her drive to Alex’s Kara gets lost in her thoughts. Despite the bad that could come out of this situation, she can’t stop thinking about how invigorating saving the plane made her feel. It's hours later and she still feels so powerful. 

For the first time in six months she feels full. Don’t be confused, even in this moment of powerfulness and her first real happiness since Lena and Marley left she is still longing for them, but she finally found something that can make her feel almost complete again, even if it is only temporary. 

She pulls into Alex’s driveway with absolutely no memory of driving there in the first place but she shrugs it off and heads inside. 

“Alex I am so sorry.” Kara says upon entering the house, assuming that Alex is angry. 

“Sorry?” Alex says, rushing to her sister. “Kara you saved my life. Thank you.” She pulls Kara into a hug. 

“But my identity. There's a photo.”

“Which we will deal with. You did good, Kara.” Alex says, releasing Kara from the hug.” 

“You think so?” Kara asks, avoiding her sister's eye contact. “Because I think I want to do it again.”

Lena clicks through the news on the computer, not expecting to find anything interesting. It’s almost time for her to leave work and pick up Marley from school but as usual, she has already finished the tasks she was given.

_ Marquette High Schooler Accepted to Michigan State University with Full Ride Scholarship  _

Lena rolls her eyes, clicking to the next headline. 

_ Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring so why is it still freezing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?  _

Well, probably because it's Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Lena thinks. That one deserves an eye roll too. 

Bored of the lack of news, Lena is about to click off the webpage when something catches her eye. 

_ BREAKING: GIRL VERSION OF SUPERMAN PICTURED SAVING CRASHING PLANE IN KANSAS?  _

Lena’s heart stops. She stares at the headline.  _ Girl version of Superman.  _ Could it be?

She clicks the headline and focuses on the photos. 

They’re grainy, but one definitely shows a woman holding up a plane. The other photo shows her standing beside it. 

Lena zooms in, making her best attempt at finding the woman's face but there's no use because of the quality. She scrolls down, reading the article below it. 

_ A girl version of Superman?  _

_Pictured above is an incredible moment in history. For the first time since Superman’s appearance we_ _see a new hero taking to the skies… but this time she's a girl._

_ This afternoon people in Wichita, Kansas spotted a plane freefalling from the sky. Fearing for their lives, panic ensued and everyone made their best attempts at taking cover. Luckily for them, a true hero came to the rescue for the first time.  _

_ It is unknown what about this situation drew out this hidden superhero.  _

_ The government plane was enroute to National City, California coming from an undisclosed location.  _

“Holy shit.” Lena says aloud, not really meaning to. What are the chances that multiple government planes are flying in from an  _ undisclosed location  _ to National City? She doesn’t really know. All she knows is that there is a possibility her daughter's biological mother saved Agent Danvers plane. 

But why? 

It's so out of nowhere. 

Does she live in Kansas? 

Does she know Agent Danvers? 

Frustrated, she closes the laptop. If it's the woman Lex kidnapped, that means she is safe, but it doesn’t change the fact that Lena can’t do anything about it. She can’t find her because it puts Marley in jeopardy. She can’t even ask Agent Danvers about it because anytime she does she gets shut down immediately with the “I assure you we are doing everything we can, Miss Luthor.”

The woman weighs heavily on her mind for the rest of the day. 

Of course, ever since she found out about Marley’s biological mother she has been on Lena’s mind. It’s something she has thought about every single day. Where is the woman? Is the woman okay? Is she alive? These are the questions that she mulls over in her head constantly, but the one that's always on her mind?  _ Who is the woman?  _

So yeah, she's always thinking about her but something about those photos makes it so much more real. Before, they were nothing but hypotheticals. All of the questions existed but were only valid if  _ she  _ existed. 

Making it a reality causes knots in Lena’s stomach. 

She pushes her thoughts aside because she really needs to run errands before Marley gets out of school. She has a check to cash that Alex left for her and grocery shopping that she needs to do.

She decides she really needs to get herself together because Monday nights are Monopoly nights for her and Marley and if she wants a chance at beating her genius six year old, she really needs to be focused. 

Except she's the furthest thing from focused for the rest of the day. 

She manages to cash the check okay, but when signing it she nearly wrote Lena Luthor instead of Sybil Tillman. That could have turned bad. 

While grocery shopping she forgets half of what she needs, despite a list being physically in her hands. 

She's five minutes late picking Marley up from school, but that's not too bad because she's definitely been later. 

When she picks Marley up from school she does one of the most forbidden things for a Luthor to do. She goes through the Mcdonald’s drive-thru. She realized while walking into the school to find Marley that since she forgot half of what she needed at the store, she didn’t have food to make dinner. So Mcdonald’s it was. Lena now considers herself the world's worst mother for feeding her child fast food, meanwhile Marley considers her the world's best mom for the same reason.

Typically, Monopoly Monday’s consist of one very long game of Monopoly lasting from after dinner until bedtime. This time they played three games. Lena’s mind is so far gone that she manages to lose three seperate games of Monopoly to her six year old in one night. 

She loves Marley, but she is happier than ever to get her in bed. She worries she might lose her in the house somehow if she's up any longer seeing as she is struggling to focus on anything at all. 

Lena decides to head to bed not long after Marley, but that does not mean sleep comes quickly after. She tosses and turns for hours thinking about the  _ girl superman  _ who was seen earlier that day. 

Lena eventually does fall asleep, but it's not on purpose. She's exhausted. 

Meanwhile, Kara Danvers sits at her desk just like she did in the morning and she writes to Marley about her day and how she saved Alex. 

This time though, while she writes, she does something that she's been stopping herself from doing for six months. 

She finds Lena and Marley and she listens, from the comfort of her desk. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)
> 
> What did you guys think? 
> 
> Someone in the comments mentioned they hoped Kara would listen to Lena's heart and find her... Well I had something similar planned all along! 
> 
> Please let me know what you think! I saw someone on twitter saying they didn't like the last chapter so I'm sorry about that :(


	11. Supergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara becomes known to the world as Supergirl.

“Alex, what about Lena and Marley?” Kara asks. She's at the DEO getting her final fitting for her new suit. Tomorrow she will officially be known to the world as Supergirl. A month ago today was the day she saved Alex and every single day after she has had to fight the urge to go out and continue to be a hero. Alex made her promise that she wouldn’t risk her identity again, not until they had a proper suit and an agreement with the DEO. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

“I already told you Kara. I can fill Lena in the next time I am there, but we can’t do anything more than that.”

“She's going to know it's me!” 

Alex sighs. She's leaning up against the table, her arms crossed observing Winn making the final touches on the suit. “It's out of our control Kara. We can postpone the press conference until I can talk to Lena if it makes you feel better.”

“No. Alex, I’ve had enough of this. This is who I am.” Kara says, looking at herself confidently in the mirror. For years, she saw herself as fragile, ready to break at any moment. Nothing about her screamed confident until she put on this suit for the first time. When she lets her hair down and takes her glasses off, she feels a wave of powerfulness unlike anything she's ever experienced. It's amazing, but she knows she won’t feel whole until she can share it with Lena and Marley. “Let me see them.”

“You know I can’t do that. The DEO would never allow it and quite frankly, Kara, I don't think it's a good idea anyway.” Alex tells her, looking at her strictly. “We will find Lex soon enough and when we do they will be on the next flight to National City. Okay?” 

Kara nods. She understands where Alex is coming from, she really does. On the other hand though, she trusts herself and she knows that she wouldn’t be putting Lena and Marley in danger. She wouldn’t let her family be in danger again. Not after Alex nearly getting caught up in Lex kidnapping her and definitely not after Jeremiah was murdered by Lex Luthor while he was trying to save her. 

That's why she listens to Lena and Marley’s hearts every single day. Multiple times a day. Everytime she thinks about them, she checks on them. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

Kara drops the subject with Alex. She knows her sister won’t budge. To her things are black and white. Things are either dangerous or they aren’t. There's no gray area and there certainly aren't extra factors like Kara having literal superpowers that could protect them. In Alex’s eyes Lex Luthor is still out there and that means Marley and Lena are in danger. End of story. 

She decides she will have to do things her own way and she definitely isn’t showing herself to the world as Supergirl before she's talked to Lena. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

Kara flies home before the DEO can offer her a ride. They picked her up in the morning in a black SUV and drove her. She assumes they definitely do not want her flying until she is one, suited up, and two she makes her first appearance as Supergirl. Oh well, she has things to do and one of them isn't to wait until they decide to take her home. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

As Kara flies, she can’t stop focusing on Lena’s heart. Something is drawing her to it and she knows exactly what it is. The second Alex told her no, something just clicked. The DEO isn’t going to cater to this situation. Alex’s black and white thinking is shared by the DEO. They are not going to involve themselves in a situation where danger even rises by a percent and therefore, Kara decides, this situation is going to have to be kept separate from them. Maybe Clark was right when he begged Kara to not team up with the government. 

And just like that, before she can even think about Kara is following the sound of Lena’s heart as she soars through the air.

She's faster than she was a month ago. Ever since she told Alex she wanted to pursue something like Clark does as Superman, the DEO has brought her in every single day to train. They pick her up after work and she spends her afternoons there. Her weekends are full of training, except today of course. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

Kara's heart begins to race as Lena’s heart beat gets louder and louder indicating that she is getting closer to her. 

“Oh Rao.” Kara mumbles and she comes to a halt in the air. Wherever she is, she knows Lena is right below her. She can hear her heartbeat as clear as the day she walked into her classroom hand in hand with Marley. She focuses on Lena’s heartbeat, doing her best to try and use the rhythm to calm her nerves. She's not afraid of putting herself between a plane and the ground to save it, but seeing Lena Luthor for the first time in seven months? Extremely nerve racking. Having to explain to her that you’re Kryptonian and her daughter's biological mother? Absolutely terrifying. 

But she has to do it. 

Tomorrow, for the first time ever, she makes an appearance as Supergirl. She has to make a speech, not only in front of thousands of people at CatCo, but also in front of the millions of people who will see it from the homes on TV. Even on the off chance that neither Marley nor Lena recognize her it still seems wrong. Lena knows that there is a Kryptonian out there somewhere who is her daughter's biological mother and Kara doesn’t want either of them to see her on TV before they know everything. She can only imagine the hurt it would bring. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

So because she has no other choice, she slowly lowers herself to the ground just blocks away from where she can hear Lena’s heart. She wants to do this. She's wanted to do this for seven months. 

Sure, she could have lowered herself right onto Lena’s property but having to explain this is going to be hard enough and the risk that Lena sees her hovering in the air before the explanation really is not worth it. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

It’s not a far walk and maybe if Kara wasn’t so riddled with anxiety she would enjoy it. The sun is shining brightly, hitting the water and bouncing back up onto Kara’s face. She wonders for a second where she is. She forgot to pay attention to that when flying here.

When she turns the corner and spots the house that the heartbeat is coming from, everything becomes real. She focuses hard on the house and walking at a normal  _ human  _ speed in case someone is watching her. She tries hard not to think so the nerves don't get the best of her and cause her to turn around. 

She's doing it. 

She's almost there. 

“Hey, how ya’ doin’?” 

Kara whips around, startled. There's a man in the driveway of the house she walked by, holding a hose. “Huh? Oh. Hi.” 

“You new here? I haven’t seen you before.” 

“Uh, yeah. I’m just, uh- visiting a friend.” Kara replies, looking hesitantly over her shoulder hoping Lena doesn’t see her outside before she gets there. 

“Oh yeah? Who?” 

“Uh-” Kara stops, deciding to just point to the house. She doesn’t know the names Lena or Marley are going by and she doesn’t want to risk exposing them. 

“Sybil Tillman? Really? You’re her friend?” Kara nods her head. “She's a mystery around here, that one. Showed up out of the blue with her kid over six months ago and still none of us know her. We’re a real tight knit community, you know? So it's odd having a neighbor be so stand-offish.” 

“Uh. yeah. That's Sybil for you. She has walls.” Kara responds. 

“Glad to see she has a friend.” The man says. “Well, I’ll let you go now. Tell Sybil that she's always welcome ‘round here.” 

“Thanks.” Kara smiles, taking a deep breath and turning away from the man. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

She tries to refocus on Lena, but stopping only made the nerves worse so she walks quickly to the door and knocks before she can stop herself. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump.  _

Oh Rao. Oh Rao. Oh Rao. 

_ Thump.  _

_ Thump. _

_ Thump, _

Kara can hear Lena’s footsteps approaching the door and it takes everything in her to not just fly off before Lena opens it. 

Lena opens the door and it might as well take hours for her to do so because Kara is hyper aware of everything. The way the door squeaks, how Lena is standing there looking down with her hair tied up on top of her head in a bun, the sweat pants, the glass of wine she's holding, the way she slowly looks up to see who is there and the way she winces when the sun hits her face. Kara takes a deep breath and it's like slow motion the way Lena’s eyes go wide as she recognizes Kara standing at her doorstep. 

The five seconds that Lena stands there staring at Kara in awe and confusion last forever. Even her heart sounds like it is beating in slow motion. 

Finally, Lena takes a deep breath and looks Kara up and down as if she's trying to make sure she isn’t seeing things. “Kara?” 

“Lena.” Kara exhales as if every negative feeling is leaving her body. The nerves may still be there, but Rao, being in Lena’s presence again is comforting in the way Kara never knew she needed. 

Despite the confusion that is making itself more than present, they fall into each other's arms, the way they both always longed for but were never brave enough to do. An odd feeling that Kara can't quite place lingers in their hug and she's sure, whatever it is, is mutual. 

Neither of them have any idea how long the hug lasts, but eventually Lena is the one to pull away. “Kara?” She asks again as if she's still unsure it's her. “Kara, what are you doing here? Did Agent Danvers-” 

Kara interrupts Lena. “No, and she can’t know about this, okay?” Lena nods. “Can I come in?”

“Oh!” Lena says, her eyes widening. “Yes, of course. Come in.”

Kara looks around uneasily. The house is homey but it's not  _ Lena.  _ “Is Marley around?” 

Lena shakes her head. “No, she's at a friends house.” Lena stands by the door as awkwardly as Kara is, unsure of what to do. “I’m sorry, this is just such a surprise. Can I get you something to drink?” 

“No, it's okay. Can we sit down? I need to talk to you about some things.” Lena nods and leads them to the living room motioning for Kara to sit down. 

“Kara, if Agent Danvers didn’t… How did you find me?” 

“Uh, can I get to that?” Lena nods, looking unsure of herself and the situation in general. “I guess I am having trouble figuring out where to start. Just- Uh, if at any time you no longer want me here, tell me and I’ll leave, okay?” 

“What’s going on?” Lena asks.

“Lena, I’m not from here.” Lena raises an eyebrow. “From Earth. I’m not from Earth.” Kara corrects herself. 

Lena’s eyebrows shoot up and then furrow for a second before she looks at Kara. “That actually makes sense. Wait does that mean Agent Danvers is an alien too? Wow I never would have guessed-”

“No. Lena, I’m  _ Kryptonian. _ ” Lena’s eyebrows shoot up again and this time they don’t come down. She looks like she is unable to process whatever information Kara is trying to give her. “And Marley came from me. She's my DNA.” Kara says, careful not to say the word mom or mother, as not to trigger anything upsetting for Lena. At the end of the day Lena is Marley’s mother. Biological or not. 

Minutes pass. They’re silent and Kara doesn’t stop them from being silent. She knows whatever is going through Lena’s head is complicated. 

Finally, Lena looks up at Kara. Kara expects anger but Lena’s eyes are full of tears. “Kara, I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Kara asks. She anticipated anger, but hoped for understanding. Never would she have expected sadness and an apology from Lena.

“Lex- My brother. He hurt you, Kara. How can you even look at me?” Lena asks, tears now streaming down her face. “I wanted so badly to find the woman he did this to and apologize, help her if needed. I never thought it would hurt so badly.”    
  


“Lena, no.” Kara says, tilting her head and placing her hand on Lena’s. 

“Look at me.” Lena scoffs. “I’m not the victim here, Kara. You are. You shouldn't be comforting me.”

“I’m not asking for sympathy or apologies. I just needed to be honest with you.” 

Lena is silent again for a while and Kara let's her be. She has had seven months to process some of the stuff Lena is learning right now. 

“Agent Danvers knows?” Kara nods. “I can see why she has such a soft spot now. She's her aunt.” Lena says like everything is clicking in her head despite never knowing it didn’t make sense in the first place. 

“Well, I’m sure Alex would love to have that relationship with Marley but I’m not coming here to ask for permission to give her another whole family. That's your decision to make. You have a right to know where  _ your  _ daughter came from.” 

Lena nods and then there is another long pause. “Kara, how old are you?” 

Out of instinct Kara reaches up and touches the necklace that Lena had given her for her birthday. “I turned twenty-two on my birthday.” 

Lena winces at Kara’s response. “You were fifteen?” 

“Uh, fourteen. I was rescued the day after my fifteenth birthday.”

Lena looks at Kara with a look of pure sadness. The look is so sad it makes Kara’s heart sink. “Kara, take me back to National City.” 

“Oh. Lena, I can’t do that.”

Lena stands up, the look of sadness turning to pure anger. “I’m going to kill my brother. How could he? You were a child, Kara.”

“It's okay. I promise. I’m okay.” 

“He violated a child. He is sick and I am going to kill him. Take me back to National City.” 

“The DEO is so close to finding him, Lena. They will take care of him and he will get what he deserves.” Kara says, putting a hand on Lena’s shoulder and guiding her back to the couch. “I understand how angry it can make you. The only reason I’m not going out of my way to find him is because I would be putting my family in danger. I need you to do the same. We can’t risk putting Marley in danger.” 

Lena takes a deep breath and nods. “I miss you Kara Danvers.” 

Kara smiles, the first real Kara smile in months. “I miss you Lena.” 

For a few moments they look at each other, their eyes locked. Suddenly Lena’s face falls. “I am so mad at you!” 

Kara’s eyes go wide and her heart drops. “What? Lena, I’m sorry.” 

Lena starts laughing. “Do you have any idea the wicked hangover I had after a night of trying to keep up with you drinking? No wonder you didn’t get drunk!” 

“Oh.” Kara giggles, pushing her glasses up on her face. “Sorry. I’ll have to make up for it somehow.” 

“Don’t you worry, Kara Danvers. I will stop at nothing to make sure that you make up for that.” 

“That sounds like a threat.” 

“It is. Just wait.” Lena laughs. 

“I do have to tell you one more thing.” Kara says, remembering that in less than 24 hours she is going to be known by the world. 

“Do tell.” Lena says. 

“So a month ago Alex was on a plane that nearly crashed, but I saved it.” 

“I saw that. If the picture would have been clearer maybe I would have been able to tell it was you.” 

Kara smiles shyly, “Well I’m glad you couldn’t tell. I wanted to tell you myself.” She says. “Anyway, I couldn't get that out of my head. I want to keep helping people. So tomorrow I am being introduced to the world as Supergirl. I have a suit and everything, just like Superman.” 

“Are you sure you should? Before Lex is taken down?” Lena asks, concern iminent on her face. 

“There's always going to be someone who doesn’t want me or Superman around. That shouldn’t stop me from saving lives. I have these incredible powers. What good am I doing if I don't put them to use?”

“I suppose you’re right, but you are going to have me worried. Especially with me being here.”

“I’ll be safe.” Kara says, grabbing Lena’s hand and locking their pinkies together. “See? Pinky promise.”

“God, I’ve missed you.” Lena says. 

Kara leaves soon after, when Lena realizes Marley will be home soon and they decide it would be best to hold off on explaining things to her until they are in National City again. They share a long hug before Kara shoots into the sky from Lena’s backyard, maybe showing off a  _ little.  _

Rao, that was perfect. Truthfully, Kara was expecting it to be a lot harder than that. She expected Lena to be angry at Kara for not telling her sooner. She thought there was a chance that Lena would no longer want Kara in her life, one because she is an alien and two because she doesn’t want another parent figure in Marley’s life. She would have understood but she's so glad it didn’t go that way. 

As she soars through the sky she thinks how she should have known better. She wouldn’t have blamed Lena for having negative reactions, but she should have known that Lena is so much more empathetic than people think. She's caring and she's kind and she has always wanted nothing but the best for Kara. 

She thought seeing Lena would make everything easier. It did, kind of. She can now focus on her Supergirl appearance tomorrow, but something else is lingering. Seeing Lena only made Kara want her back in National City more.The DEO needs to find Lex Luthor.  _ Now.  _

The next day Kara is at the DEO being prepped for the press conference. 

“I’m so excited for you Kara.” Alex says, her voice low. J’onn had mentioned to Alex to start calling Kara Supergirl around the DEO and in work settings. It makes sense but it's hard to adapt to. 

“Thanks Alex. You really think I can do it?” Kara asks, looking at herself in the mirror. She stands tall in her brand new suit, grateful that she didn’t allow Winn to go with the skirt version of the suit. She likes the look of the pants much better. 

“I know you can. Look at you.” 

Kara smiles at her sister in the mirror. “Hey Alex? Can I ask you something?” Alex nods. “How long until you get Lex in custody?” 

Alex shrugs, “We’re expected to get his IP address this week, but Kara please don’t get your hopes up. Lex Luthor is smart and he could have known for weeks that we hacked in. He could be ten steps ahead by now.” 

“I feel like you’re not prioritizing this.” Kara says, a little bit more snarky than she means to. She knows that the DEO is taking things seriously and following procedures, she just wishes they could do more.

“Seriously Kara?” Alex asks. “We’re doing everything I can and I need you to trust that. Lex is not only a threat to Lena, but my sister and  _ my niece _ . If there was more I could be doing, I would be doing that.” 

Kara feels bad for snapping like she did. Alex joined the DEO to protect her, of course she is doing everything she can. “I’m sorry. It's just frustrating.” 

Alex walks over to Kara, placing her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “I know. Trust me, I know.” She says, pulling Kara into a hug. “We have a press conference to get to. Can you handle it?” Kara nods. 

“Then let's do this.”

Kara stands with Alex on the top of CatCo. Cat Grant, fashion designer and media mogul speaks below. 

“30 seconds, Supergirl.” Alex says, tightly gripping her sister's hand. Kara smiles at her nervously focusing on Cat’s speaking, waiting for her cue. 

“Before I go, I just want to say thank you, Alex. I wouldn’t be here without you. I love you.” 

Alex grins, leaning in to quickly hug Kara. “I love you. Now go.” 

Kara shoots into the air, circling the ground and listening to the “Ooh’s!” and “Ahh’s” before landing on the stage, one hand on her hip. What good is any of this if she doesn’t make her first appearance with a good old fashion Super landing? 

Kara stands there, still posed with her hand on her hip. She looks into the distance smiling wide, taking in the camera flashes and cheering from the crowd.

After the cheering dies down, she steps forward to the podium. “Thank you all so much for being here for this event today. I’m incredibly excited to work here in National City alongside the National City Police Department. I can’t wait to be the hero this city deserves.” Kara says, repeating the short speech she had prepared for the event. 

“Where did the name Supergirl originate from?” A journalist shouts. 

Kara smiles, leaning into the mic. “CatCo worldwide media coined it a month ago after I saved the crashing plane.” 

“Don’t you think the name Super _ girl  _ is a bit anti-feminist?” Another journalist shouts. 

“I’ll be honest, I was a little put off by it at first, but I realized I shouldn’t be offended. Girls can do anything, including save a plane from falling out of the air.” She winks.

“Do you know Superman?” 

Kara looks back at Alex, not knowing how to answer since the question in relation to Superman was meant to be blacklisted. The DEO alongside Kara decided they would approach it later with Superman. “No comment.” 

“How are you going to juggle being Supergirl and potentially having children?” 

“ _ Oh Rao.”  _ Kara says under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Kara answers questions for the remainder of the hour and after a short goodbye with the audience she shoots back into the sky. It wasn’t really what she expected, but she enjoyed it. There were a lot of what she thinks should be considered irrelevant questions about Superman. Specifically things like if she thinks she can keep up with Superman, simply because he’s a man and older than her. If she had been allowed to, she would have answered with a very factual explanation of how her powers are in fact stronger than Superman’s powers because he spent a year on Krypton versus the twelve years she spent on Krypton. Oh well, she supposes there will always be a comparison. Now that it’s over, she can finally be herself and  _ that  _ is what matters. 

Kara briefly wonders if Lena watched her on TV tonight before she hears police sirens in the distance and decides to chase them, getting all too excited about helping stop her first crime. 

Lena did of course watch the press conference. She even gave Marley extra tablet time to get her to stay in her room while she did so she could truly marvel at Kara Danvers without playing twenty questions with her six year old. Besides, if she can keep the Supergirl thing on the down low with Marley until she can truly explain to her the situation, that would be ideal.

Even hours after the press conference Lena is still awestruck at how Kara radiated confidence throughout it. She decides confidence is a fantastic look on Kara Danvers, but she hopes that she can still manage to fluster her like she used to. 

It really is inspiring to see Kara up there like that after everything she's been through, but that only makes Lena desperate to make it right even more. 

So after Marley is tucked into bed that night, instead of downing a bottle of wine like she normally does every Sunday night, she heads over to her computer. 

She shouldn’t. 

She really shouldn't. 

She could be risking her own life.  _ Marley’s life.  _

But she’s smarter than that. 

So she does the last thing anyone would advise her to do in their current situation. 

She starts the process of hacking Lex’s database. She can figure it out quicker than the DEO. She can find Lex and end this, once and for all. 

The DEO would never allow this. In fact, if they found out Lena even attempted to hack Lex’s database, then they would probably move them again. 

Kara would beg Lena not to because she cares about Lena and Marley’s safety way too much. She would find any other way to get them back to National City before she allowed Lena to put herself in harm's way.

That's why she won't tell anyone until what's done is done. It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Kara would understand. She did find Lena without the DEO’s help. 

It really isn’t hard for Lena to start the process of hacking Lex. Any normal person might be unable to on their regular home computer, but luckily for Lena she comes from a very shady family. She could have handled this at age fifteen if she needed to. It doesn’t take her long to get into the database. That's not the hard part anyway. Even the DEO had that covered within a few days. The part they have been struggling with is decoding Lex’s IP address. He’s smart enough to have it protected in more than one way, but Lena is smarter. Even he knows that. 

She figures it will take her a few days, at most. She grew up watching Lex create intricate ways to stay hidden. Who better than her to do this anyway? The DEO should have taken that into account when they moved them a couple thousand miles away. 

Hours into the night go by and Lena is still working tirelessly. At around 4 in the morning she decides at least a couple hours of sleep are better than none and she closes out everything on the computer, making sure not to leave anything behind in Lex’s database that can be traced back to her. 

She stands up from the chair she had been sitting in and stretches, closing the robe she is wearing and walking away from the computer to head to her bedroom. What she doesn’t realize as she walks away, is the light to her webcam turn on. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and PLEASE leave a comment letting me know how you liked it! I love reading them!


	12. Lex

“That’s ridiculous.” Kara says, throwing the magazine onto the table with a snort. 

“What is?” Winn rolls across the room in his computer chair grabbing the magazine from the table as he rolls by. “Supergirl: Superman’s New Young Wife?” He reads. “Well are you?” 

“What? Rao, no.” She says, almost forgetting that Winn doesn’t know that Kara Danvers and Supergirl are the same people. “He’s my- He’s like twice my age!” She says in disgust. 

  
Winn shrugs. “I’ve seen worse.” 

“Don’t worry Supergirl. We have a meeting set up with Superman tomorrow afternoon.” Alex says as she walks by and notices the commotion. 

Kara follows Alex, leaving Winn by himself. “Are you sure I can’t just, I don’t know, volunteer after work everyday? I have nothing better to do.”

“Supergirl, you can’t overwork yourself. Focus on your day job during the week and fighting crime on the weekend. It’s the only way you can keep both jobs.” Alex replies.

“Alexxxx,” Kara whines, getting an odd look from an agent walking by. “Agent Danvers.” She corrects herself. “Don’t they say it's not work if you love what you’re doing?”

While in negotiation for the job with the DEO they offered Kara nearly three times the salary she makes at her teaching job, on the condition that she quit and work for them full time. The money was tempting for a minute, but teaching was the first thing she felt connected to. She wouldn’t give that up for anything, even being Supergirl full time. 

Besides, the more she is out in the world as Supergirl, the more headlines there will be claiming things like she’s married to Superman.  _ Gross.  _

“I love knitting, Supergirl, but if I did it without rest I would still be exhausted.” Alex replies. “Go home.” 

Kara crosses her arms, puffing out her bottom lip, deciding not to address the fact that she has never seen Alex knit a day in her life. “And do what?”

“Don't you have papers to grade or something?” 

“They’re first graders.” 

Alex scoffs, “Go home.” 

After a little more arguing, Kara finally leaves only after pointing out that it is not against her contract to fight crime if she sees or hears it even when not instructed to do so by the DEO. She does a few laps, hovering a couple hundred feet above Lena’s home for a moment just to hear her voice a little louder, wishing she could just drop down right there and go spend the afternoon with Lena and Marley. She only listens for a moment, not wanting to intrude, before flying away.

“I’ve had enough!” Lena yells, holding her phone against her ear and a piece of paper in another. “I want to speak to the principal now.”

“Mommmmy!” Marley groans, attempting to snatch the phone from Lena’s hand, but only earning a glare from Lena. 

“Hi, yes, this is Sybil Tillman. You sent home a note with my daughter's folder today?” Lena asks, trying to keep her cool. “No, we don't need a conference. She's not cheating and she's acting up because she is bored. I’ve told you before, she needs to be challenged.” Lena crumples up the paper, throwing it into the garbage. “Well if you aren’t challenging her then I think her behavior is your problem... Oh- Oh, I’m sorry that your school can’t accommodate  _ such  _ needs. What? You only teach dumb children there?” 

A moment passes before Lena speaks again. “You know what? Don’t worry about it. She won’t be returning. Keep her belongings, I don't care.” Lena hangs up the phone, putting her head in her hands. This isn’t the first time the school had accused Marley of cheating. They simply could not believe that she was finishing her third grade course load at the same pace an adult would. Imagine if they knew she was really six. 

“I’m not going back?” Marley asks. 

Lena shrugs. “I guess I should call Agent Danvers. Maybe later.” She says, not really wanting to hear Agent Danver’s impatience with Lena. She could imagine it now. “ _ It's an elementary school, Miss Luthor, not a job. You can’t just quit.”  _

Instead, she texts her boss telling her she has a family emergency and that she needs the next few days off. She figures that will buy her enough time to either finish decoding Lex’s IP address, or to figure something else out for Marley. Hopefully she doesn’t have to do the latter. She's almost done anyway. She's been working on it for four days with hopes it will take her less than a week. As of now, that's looking up.

“So do I have to finish this homework, Mommy?” Marley asks. “It's boring.” 

Lena looks over to what her daughter is working on and rolls her eyes. Simple multiplication. She grabs the sheet and throws it away. “Just go play, Marley. I’m going to get you some worksheets that will be more fun.” 

Marley grins, running up the stairs to her room and Lena heads to the computer, sitting down in front of it. “That's weird.” She says, noticing the webcam light. She narrows her eyes, opening the computer and searching for the application using the camera. “Shit.” She says, upon finding that there isn’t one. She throws a nearby jacket over the camera and leaves the room dialing the emergency number Agent Danvers gave her. 

“Agent Danvers.” 

“Uh, so I have something to tell you. Don’t freak out.” 

“What's going on Miss Luthor?” Alex asks. 

Lena takes a deep breath wishing she didn’t have to admit her mistake. “I may have hacked into Lex’s database.” She says. 

“Lena! Do you know how dangerous that could be?” 

“Yeah. That’s the thing. My webcam light is on. I just noticed it. There are no applications using it.” 

“Shit.” There's a short pause from Alex’s end. “Lena, I need you to unplug the computer. I’m sending the police to escort you to the airport. Pack only what you can fit in a duffle bag.”

  
  


“Mommy!” Marley screams from upstairs. Lena drops the phone, running towards her daughter's voice. 

“Marley?” She yells back, racing to Marley’s bedroom door. She wiggles the door handle, pushing with all her weight to no avail. “Marley! Let me in!” 

A second passes and the door pops open. “Hello my darling sister.” 

Lex Luthor stands near the broken window, holding an unconscious Marley in his arms. 

Lena runs towards him, fully prepared to take him down. “Give me my daughter.” 

“ _ Your  _ daughter?” He scoffs, pointing a laser at Lena causing her to tumble to the ground. “I made her myself. She's mine.” 

“I’ve raised her! She calls  _ me  _ her mother. She doesn’t know any different!” Lena yells from the ground.

“I gave her to you in hopes that you wouldn’t get too attached. I’m disappointed in you, Lena. That's not at all like a Luthor.”

“Maybe I’m not a Luthor after all.” Lena says, standing up. “Or maybe I am and all of the evil you inherited just comes from Lillian. My father would never stoop to these levels.” She spits. 

Lex smirks. “Evil? I’m trying to save humanity, Lena, and I’m going to use  _ this  _ to do it.” 

“You will not exploit a child!” Lena yells. 

“A child? She's an alien. An alien who would be dangerous if I left her with you.” 

“She isn't dangerous!” Lena screams, once again running towards Lex, fighting with everything in her for Marley. 

But it doesn’t matter because the last thing she remembers is Lex pointing something at her and then falling to the ground. 

Hours later, Lena’s eyes finally flutter open, although to her it could have been seconds or months that she was unconscious. When she does open her eyes, Kara Danvers, or Supergirl rather, runs to her side. “Lena!” 

It takes a few seconds for Lena to process things, but when she does she sits up abruptly. “Where is Marley?” 

“We’re doing everything we can, Lena. It’s all hands on deck. Everyone is trying to locate Lex and Marley now.” 

“I want to help.” Lena says, putting her legs to one side of the hospital bed. 

“Lena-” Kara says, but she is quickly interrupted.

“I am going to help, Kara. You can’t stop me. This is my daughter we’re talking about.” 

“We have no idea what Lex used to knock you out. You need rest and medical care.” Kara reasons. “The DEO is on it.” 

“Like they were  _ on  _ locating Lex in the first place?” Lena says, ripping the tape off her arm and preparing herself to remove the IV. “They were working on decoding his IP address for over a month. I nearly had it finished in less than a week. Apparently my expertise is needed here if I want my daughter back.”

Kara flinches when Lena pulls the IV out. “I’ll go get the director.” She mutters, leaving Lena behind. 

“Miss Luthor,” J’onn says, upon meeting Lena in the hallway. He places a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We would be glad to have your help with this. I know how upsetting it is. If you’re going to help we need to ensure that you’re going to stay alive. Let the doctor hook you back up to the IV and we’ll set you up out with all of my agents and you can help.” 

Lena looks at him skeptically but eventually nods. “Director, I hope you understand the seriousness of the situation. My child, my  _ kryptonian  _ child, has been kidnapped by Lex Luthor. You do understand that?” 

“Miss Luthor, I assure you I understand that, as does everyone here. Nobody is leaving until we bring Marley back.” 

“Fine. Get the doctor. But this better be quick.”

After the doctor hooks Lena back up to her IV, J’onn leads her to the center of the DEO and she goes straight to work. 

“Miss Luthor is going to be an addition to our team while we search for Lex Luthor and her daughter.” J’onn announces. “Miss Luthor, is there anything we should know?” 

“You need to think out of the box. Simply just trying to follow Lex’s trail won’t work because he didn’t leave one. He is already ten steps ahead of everyone in this room. Look for a mistake. Nobody is perfect.” 

After filling the room with more dread than was there in the first place, everyone in the room, including Lena, gets to work.

“I sent everyone in this room a list of every single one of Lex’s hideouts that I know about.” Lena announces before going back to whatever she was doing before. 

Nearly an hour later of finding nothing, an agent approaches Lena’s side. “Uh, Miss Luthor?” He says, sounding unsure of himself. “I decided to look at each location for radiation signatures and this one has one.” He turns the laptop to her. “It’s small, but it wasn’t there yesterday.” 

“Director?” Lena yells, standing up. J’onn rushes to her side, looking at the laptop screen. “We need a team on this. There's a radiation signature.” 

“I’ll go!” Kara yells, running over from across the room. 

“No.” Lena and J’onn say simultaneously. 

“He’s Lex Luthor. He doesn’t go anywhere without kryptonite. It will be harder having to save two people instead of just one.” Lena says. 

Kara takes a deep breath. “Lena, I understand where you’re coming from, but I don't care what happens as long as we get Marley out of there.” She turns from Lena to J’onn. “Director Henshaw, I’m going to go in first. I want a team to follow. I’m going to attack Lex. All I want them to do is get Marley and leave. Do not risk anyone's life to save me.”

“Supergirl, that isn’t plausible. You will not use yourself as bait.” He says.

“Bait?” Alex asks, coming in from another room. “What's going on?” 

“Agent Danvers, please tell Director Henshaw that the best way to save Marley is for me to go in first and distract Lex so a team of agents can grab her and get her out.” 

“And what? Leave you there with  _ Lex Luthor _ ? Supergirl, I mean this with much respect but that's crazy.” Alex says. 

“You know what?” Lena shouts. “If you guys don’t stop arguing I will go in there and get her myself.” 

J’onn looks at Supergirl. “Supergirl, I am ordering you to stay put.” He turns, facing the room ready to address everyone else. “I need a task force of twenty armed with our E-12 weapons.” He orders. 

“Director Henshaw,” Kara says, pulling him aside. “The location is twenty miles out. I could be there…  _ now.  _ You need to let me go.” 

“I ordered you to stay put because you are our biggest asset. The risk is too high. The agents here are highly trained and they will retrieve the child.” 

“ _ J’onn _ .” Kara says. “I have to. She's  _ mine _ .” 

“Do you want to die before she even knows that?” J’onn asks. “Keep Lena company. She's staying put too.”

Kara crosses her arms, sighing, but obeying J’onn’s orders. 

“I should be there helping.” Kara says to Lena when she sits beside her. “How are you so calm? I’m freaking out.” 

“I’m not calm.” Lena says, although judging by her voice you wouldn’t be able to tell. “I’m terrified. Growing up a Luthor, I learned that emotion can be your biggest weakness. If I let my fear take over me I would have never been able to help the way I did. Those agents would still be searching instead of on their way to rescue my child.”

“You’re smart. I struggle a lot with emotions. I’m angry this happened and I’m even more angry I can’t be there getting her back for you. Rao, it would feel good to super punch Lex Luthor right now. No offense.” Kara says. 

“None taken. I’d punch him too if I had the chance. Think the DEO would allow that?” Lena asks, laughing a little. 

“No.” Kara says. “But I’m stronger than all of them so technically I can do what I want.” 

Lena smiles, leaning back against the wall. “Do you trust those agents to get her?” 

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be sitting here.” Kara tells her. “Alex is leading them. She’s the best agent here.”

“She loves Marley.” Lena says, looking at Kara. “Marley has never had family. Maybe it would be nice for her to have that.” 

Kara nods understandably. “I love her too, Lena. She's welcome in our family.  _ You are  _ welcome in our family.”

“She's going to appreciate that a lot when she gets here. I will too.” Lena says. 

A few hours later, after Kara flew to Lena’s favorite restaurant and brought back food, they finally receive an update. 

“Miss Luthor? Supergirl?” J’onn says, approaching them. “Marley has been located. They’re going to be transporting her back here any minute.” 

  
“Oh thank god.” Lena says, tears starting to stream down her face. “And Lex?” 

“No update as of yet.” He says. 

Kara pulls Lena into a hug. “I told you they would get her.”

“I know. I trust you Kara.” She smiles. 

“Did she just say what I think she said, Supergirl?” J’onn says, looking Kara in the eyes. 

“Shit.” Lena says under her breath. 

“Uh, I’m sorry?” Kara says, not really sure how to handle it. 

J’onn brings his hand up to his temple, rubbing it deeply whilst shaking his head. “I guess it was going to happen eventually. Lena, I won't bother you with it today but there will be paperwork you’ll have to sign tomorrow.” 

“No problem Director Henshaw.” Lena says. 

Kara shrugs. “Alex won’t be that nice when she finds out.” 

Lena and Kara sit together waiting anxiously for Marley’s arrival. Some of it is excitement at being reunited with Marley but most of it is fear. The condition of Marley hasn’t been reported, but even if she is perfectly fine physically she might never be the same mentally.

Kara knows that all too well. 

A stranger would not be able to look at Kara and guess that she had any trauma in her life. She comes off happy and perky; and usually she is. It's the people who know her best that know that life hasn’t been and  _ isn’t  _ always sunshine for Kara. How could it be?

_ “Tell me when it starts to hurt.” Lex Luthor says, adjusting a dial.  _

_ “What are you doing?” Kara asks. She has been in Lex Luthor’s custody for a week now.  _

_ “Research. I’m trying to figure out how much kryptonite to use to make your body vulnerable without damaging it so that I can extract your DNA.” _

_ “DNA for what?” She asks, but he ignores her. “Do you even know anything about Krypton?” She doesn’t know why she feels the need to talk to Lex, but she hopes that the more she does, the more human she will become to him. It might just keep her alive.  _

_ He snorts. “Do I know anything about Krypton? You do know who I am, right?” _

_ “Well, I just figured if you were smart you would just figure out a way to generate a red sun.”  _

_ Lex looks at her suspiciously. “If I were smart? I once put a red sun in the sky to take down your cousin. If it worked you and I wouldn’t be here right now, would we?”  _

_ “Must have done something wrong.”  _

_ Lex turns the dial on the kryptonite maxing the levels before turning it back down again. “Kid, I highly suggest you stop talking unless you have something valuable to add.”  _

_ “Teenagers, Lex. You know how they are. Your sister has that same attitude sometimes.” Lillian says, entering the room and setting down a tray of food next to Lex.  _

_ “Lena has always been an angel. Don’t compare her to an alien, Mother.” Lex tells her.  _

_ “I forgot that she still has you wrapped around her bratty finger, Lex.”  _

_ “Why don’t you fly her home?” Lex suggests. “Hurt yet?” Kara shakes her head, taking a deep breath preparing herself for the next one. “Bring her here. She can see what we are doing and maybe even help.”  _

_ Lillian scoffs. “She inherited her mother’s soft stomach. She wouldn’t be able to handle it. She will stay at boarding school, where she belongs.” _

_ “Lena is your sister?” Kara asks and Lex nods his head.  _

_ “You just let her talk like that?” Lillian asks. “She should be punished. Maybe you have that soft stomach too.”  _

_ “Mother, I’d rather have her cooperation. If all goes right, I could rule the world with a Kryptonian army of my own.”  _

_ “You’re foolish.” Lillian says, reaching across Lex and turning the dial up again. As Kara screams, Lillian smiles, finally turning it down once she is pleased. “That should keep her quiet.”  _

“Kara?” Lena asks, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” 

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m just thinking.” She says. “I know what Lex’s intentions are for Marley and it scares me. What if he already hurt her? She was with him for hours before we found her. Some of my most painful experiences happened in the first few hours. He wanted to break me down, make me submissive to him so I wouldn't fight him.” 

“It breaks my heart that you went through that, Kara. I pray that Marley is unharmed, but I’m scared too. It makes my heart sink thinking about her in pain and me not being there beside her to help her.” 

From across the room Lena and Kara hear J’onn’s walkie talkie go off. “Landing in 30 seconds. Over.”

“Have a bed ready in room 12. Over.” J’onn says.

Lena and Kara both stand up and rush over to J’onn’s side. “She's here? Why does she need a hospital room?” Lena asks. 

“I still don't know her condition.” J’onn says. “We’re hooking her up to an IV and doing a full exam on her even if she is physically unharmed.” Lena nods. “You two step back.” J’onn says, as the doors open and 3 agents rush in, pushing Marley on a gurney. 

“Marley!” Lena yells, trying to run after them. 

“Stay back!” J’onn repeats. “Supergirl, I’m going to check her condition. Stay here with Lena. I’ll let you know when you can come in.” 

Kara nods, turning back to Lena. “Lena?” Lena drops to the floor, her head falling into her hands and she begins sobbing. “She's going to be okay.” Kara says as she sits on the floor beside Lena, pulling her into a hug. “You can go in and see her in a few minutes.” 

Kara continues to hold Lena as she cries until J’onn steps out again, only minutes later. 

“Miss Luthor?” J’onn says, approaching her. “I have some news. Would you like to hear it alone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's short. I struggled a lot with this chapter. I have a horrible case of writers block. Any tips?


	13. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little flashback to different points in Lena and Kara's lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I am so sorry for the wait, but writers block has still been CURSING me. I tried for weeks to write a normal follow-up chapter and finally realized I needed something different... 
> 
> So, I present to you a flashback chapter! Ugh, I know, it only means you have to wait a little longer to see what happens after the dreaded cliff hanger I gave you guys last chapter. Sorry about that, but if you enjoy flashbacks and seeing young Kara and Lena you might enjoy this! 
> 
> However, if you're not interested in reading a flashback chapter, no worries! There isn't any super important information in this chapter that you will need to understand something coming up so feel free to skip! 
> 
> With that being said... Here's the chapter!

**_April 5th, 2009._ **

“You don’t have to be afraid. We are cousins. I’ve been searching for you.” Clark Kent says, extending his hand to Kara. He receives only a blank stare. “You probably don’t know our language. Here, look.” He looks around before unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing the House of El symbol.

Kara looks at him, a little less suspicious and mumbles back “ _ Who are you?”  _ in Kryptonian. 

“Uh, I don't speak much Kryptonian. You said who am I, right? I guess you can’t answer that if you don’t know what I’m saying.” He rambles. “Clark Kent or Kal-El, of Krypton.” 

“Kal-El?” She asks, looking him up and down and then bringing her hands to her face, studying them.

Clark nods, extending his hand again. In broken Kryptonian he manages to mutter “Come with me to safety.” Kara giggles, meaning he must have messed something up when attempting the Kryptonian language, but he doesn’t mind because she is immediately warmer to him and even takes his hand. 

“Clark Kent?” Kara asks, once she is in the safety of Clarks arms. 

“Yeah, that is my name here on Earth.” He replies, although he is sure she doesn’t understand much. “We are going to fly now.” He says, pointing to the sky and repeating the word ‘fly’ in Kryptonian. 

Kara nods, understanding enough to brace herself as they soar into the air. She remembers her mother telling her about the powers she would have on Earth. They aren’t flying long before Clark lands on a balcony and walks inside, setting Kara down. “This is where I live.” He says, then pointing to himself and saying the word ‘home’ in Kryptonian. “You will stay here for now.” 

Kara walks around, staring at the living room as if she has never seen anything like it. She points to Clarks bookshelf, looking back at him. “Oh, yeah.” He says, walking towards her. “Books.” He grabs one from the shelf. “Feel free to take a look, but they are all in English.” 

“Books?” Kara asks. 

“Yes!” Clark nods, smiling. “Books.”

\-- 

“I hate it here.” 

“Oh, come on! You don’t like being here with _ me? _ ” 

“I guess there is a plus side to everything.” Lena says. “I do miss you Lex, but every time I come home, Mother makes my life a living hell.” 

“Every seventeen year old says that.” Lex laughs. “Wait until you’re the big age of 22 like I am. Mother respects me.” 

“Mother has  _ always  _ respected you Lex.”

Lex shrugs. “You can always come stay at one of my places with me.” He suggests.

“Something tells me that is dangerous. Your little obsession with Superman has gotten a little out of hand.” Lena tells him, knowing she's the only person that can get away with saying that without having an attack unit put on them. 

“Just saving the world, sis.”

“Maybe try doing it without killing people.” 

“You will understand one day. You’re smart.” Lex says, noticing Lillian out of the corner of his eye. “Hello, Mother. Just wondering, are we doing anything for Easter?” 

Lillian shakes her head. “I’m heading to London and I need you to come with me.” 

“London? Why?” Lena asks. 

“Not you. Lex. We need to leave in the morning.” 

“Why can’t Lena come along? She's on break from school.” Lex pleads. 

Lillian simply shakes her head and crosses her arms. “I don't need her getting in the way. Be ready by seven tomorrow morning, dear.” She says, walking away.    
  
“Sorry kid.”

Lena shrugs. “I’m better off, really. Having no one here to criticize my every move sounds like a dream.” 

That really is the honest truth, Lena would rather be completely alone for the rest of her life than to have to bear the wrath of Lillian Luthor even once a year. 

  
When she is alone she can focus. She can reach her full potential without distraction. Best of all? She can dream. 

She remembers as a child getting lost in her daydreams of her mother,  _ her real mother _ , and what life would be like if she had never passed away. She would begin to remember things like frollicking through meadows with her, hand and hand, and her pretty white dress, and the way the sun shone down on her face, but as soon as that memory would begin to fill her current self with warmth and happiness, Lillian would snatch it away like it wasn’t hers to begin with. 

“ _ Only failures dream, Lena.”  _ She remembers Lillian repeating to her over and over as a kid. She began to believe it for a while, but as soon as she was away all of the brainwashing that Lillian subjected her to slowly began to slip away and she found herself dreaming again. 

So, hearing from Lillian herself that she actually doesn’t have to spend one of her few breaks from school with her for the first time ever is actually the best news she could have given Lena.

**_April 7th, 2009_ ** **.**

“I know this really nice family who wants to help you live a normal life.” Clark says, sitting down on the couch next to Kara. “The Danvers. Eliza and Jeremiah. They have a daughter only a few years older than you named Alex.”

Kara raises an eyebrow at him, simply shaking her head. 

Clark looks down, a little sad. “I have work and Superman duties. You need a family who can help you. Your english has gotten so good in only two days. Imagine if you are with people who can help you.”

“No. I want to stay. You are family.” 

“I’m sorry, but you can’t. Let me take you to the Danvers.” 

Kara begrudgingly collects her few items that she had obtained over the two days at Clarks apartment and shoots him daggers with her eyes. 

“Kara, I’m sorry. It isn’t safe for you here. I am a target as Superman. I don't want you getting hurt.” 

“Go.” She says, pointing to the sky and heading to the balcony doors. Clark picks her up, ascending high into the sky and eventually landing on the Danver’s property. 

“Look how nice it is here. Away from the city with so much room to explore.” Clark says, trying to make light of the situation. Kara almost talks back, but a woman bursts out the door with a little too much enthusiasm, scaring Kara a little. 

“Clark! It is so nice to see you!” She says, approaching them. “You must be Kara? I’m Eliza Danvers.”

“She's a little shy and not really too happy about having to come here.” Clark says. 

“That's understandable.” Eliza says. “It's just me home right now. Why don't you come inside and have some pie and we can get to know each other?”

“Pie?” Kara asks. 

“It's a dessert. Remember the brownie I got you yesterday?” Kara nods. “It's sweet like that.” 

“Okay.” Kara says simply, causing Eliza to grin. 

Once inside, Eliza begins cutting the dutch apple pie and serving it to Clark and Kara. “You will like it. It's the most American food there is!” Clark laughs, taking a bite and savoring it. Kara watches, trying a bite of hers right after. 

“So, Kara, how old are you?” Eliza asks. 

“She doesn’t know much English. It's progressed a lot over the last couple days, though.” Clark says. He turns to Kara and attempts to say the word ‘age’ in Kryptonian. 

“Tavahv.” She replies, looking at Clark. 

He begins counting on his fingers shamefully. “Twelve.” 

“Oh, I miss that age. My daughter Alex is sixteen now. You will like her, Kara.” 

“Kara didn’t have any siblings on Krypton. She was the only child of the family until I was born, or so I have heard.”

Kara smiles. “Just me. Then you. I was the baby first.” 

“You knew my mom well?” Clark asks, pointing to himself. 

Kara nods. “Lara. Aunt?” She asks. 

“Yes, Aunt.” Clark says.

Kara is quiet for a second, obviously thinking. “Beautiful.” 

Clark smiles. He knew some about his biological mother, mostly from the Fortress but never anything like that. “Thank you, Kara.” He reaches into his bag, pulling out a book. “I have to go, but I brought this for you. It will help you with your English.” He says, placing a firm hand on Kara’s shoulder and saying a goodbye to Eliza.

After he leaves, Kara opens the book. It has Kryptonian to English translations. It's set up to help someone learn Kryptonian, not English, but it will do.

**_September 15th, 2011._ **

“You will understand when you are a mother one day.” 

Lena scoffs. “A mother? I think you’re underestimating me, Professor Matthews.” 

“Miss Luthor, at the end of the day you are a woman. You may not feel it yet but eventually you will desire motherhood.”

“I am nineteen years old and I will be finishing my masters degree in the spring. I am going to be a scientist, not a mother.” Lena tells the older man with confidence. Motherhood isn’t in her plans. It’s not that she doesn’t like kids, but she doesn’t have any experience with them. Besides, after the way she grew up she isn’t exactly sure she trusts herself to raise a child anyway. 

“You can’t be both, you’ll end up depressed.” The man says, but Lena just rolls her eyes and leaves the room. 

It’s true, she will be finishing her masters degree at the age of twenty. That’s before the majority of students even finish their bachelors. She loves education but she has no interest in dilly-dallying. The faster she can finish this part of her life, the faster she can begin her own life. She won't have to worry about Lillian making decisions for her, dangling money over her head to show her that if she doesn’t do exactly what Lillian wants her to do, she will end up homeless. 

Lena pushes open the doors to the building, fully intending on making her way to the cafeteria. “Little sister.” A voice says. 

Lena jumps, turning around. “God, Lex. You scared me. What are you doing here?” She's not really all that surprised by Lex being at her school despite the fact that it's hours away from wherever he calls home. He tends to show up randomly. He has always been that way. 

“I figured I was due to have lunch with my sister. Is that a crime?” 

“No. I suppose it isn’t. But are you sure you should be out? Aren’t the police looking for you? I don’t really want to be charged with aiding and abetting.” 

Lex smiles. “Cleared on all charges. What can I say? I’m innocent.”

Lena rolls her eyes knowing Lex is far from innocent. It's not that she doesn’t care about the crimes he’s committed, it's more about staying on his good side until she can safely distance herself from her family. “Where are we going?” 

“You live here, don’t you? You can choose. Don’t worry, it's on me.” 

Lena chooses a pizza parlour downtown. She rarely eats there, but it is one of her favorites. Lillian might literally kill her if she found out she was eating pizza occasionally, but Lex has always enjoyed defying Mothers orders, especially for junk food. 

“So what really brings you here Lex?” Lena asks after they receive their food. 

“You’re smart. I have a business opportunity.” 

Lena quirks an eyebrow suspiciously. “A business opportunity?” 

“A couple weeks ago I began a project and it's going really well.” He says, patting the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “Mother is helping me but it's extremely time consuming.” 

“What are you asking Lex? I’m not sure I want to be a part of any of your projects. Sorry. I have school to worry about anyway.” 

Lex shakes his head. “LuthorCorp.” He says, taking a bite of his pizza. “I have a temporary CEO filling in, but when you graduate I want you to take it over.” 

“You want me to take over being CEO of LuthorCorp?” Lena asks. “I don't want to be involved with anything dirty.” 

Lex shrugs. “I don't care what you do with it. I will be separating myself from it completely no matter what. I just thought I would give you the opportunity before anyone else gets their hands on it. It's wonderful money, Lena. Not many people can say they have a job offer to be CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation right out of grad school.” 

“I can do whatever I want with it?” Lena asks, just to be sure. She doesn’t exactly trust Lex. He almost always has an ulterior motive. 

“Sure. As long as you get it out of my sight. I think I make a fantastic CEO, but I’m tired of the paperwork. I’m onto bigger and better things, sister.” 

“As long as you’re sure there are no strings attached, Lex. I’m trying to separate myself from the evil Luthor name.” 

Lex puts his hands up in defense. “None. I won’t even tell Mother until after you have officially taken it over. That way she can’t mess with anything.”

“Fine.” Lena says. “I’ll do it.” 

“Perfect. You know Lena, I’m not evil. I’m trying to save humanity from aliens.” 

Lena snorts. “I think you should start by saving humanity from itself first. We have bigger problems on Earth than alien refugees. So many of them mean no harm. They just need a safe place.”

“Well they will just have to find that elsewhere, yeah?” Lex says. “We might never agree, Lena, but that's okay.”

“Maybe for you.” Lena says.

“You’re stubborn, my sister.” Lex chuckles slightly. “Look, I’ve got to get going. I’ll be in touch soon though.” 

Lena nods, watching Lex stand up from the table and disappear from the restaurant. 

She meant to ask him where he was staying and  _ what  _ he was doing, but she isn’t really sure if she wants to know anyway. Whatever Lex’s project is it is big enough to make him give away his company without batting an eye. In Lena’s book, that probably means it is something that she wants to stay far away from. 

And she's right, of course. 

“Where were you? I am not a babysitter, Lex.” Lillian shouts, upon Lex entering the room. 

Lex rolls his eyes. “She's locked up, Mother. No babysitting required.” He tells her, taking off his jacket and immediately putting on a lab coat. “I was having lunch with Lena.” 

“Why on Earth would you do that?” Lillian asks, exabberated. 

“She is my little sister. You seem to forget that.” 

Lillian shakes her head, walking towards Lex. “Do you see her here in this room helping you? If she was family she would be here. Now that she is an adult, she is on her own.” 

“Not really, mother. She relies on you for her basic needs and she will until she graduates.” 

Lillian scoffs. “It wouldn’t be that way if I had any control of it. Your father made his will very clear. It's divided equally between the three of us. I thought he had more sense than that.” 

“If he had more sense he would have just left the fortune to Lena!” Lex chuckles. “She would put it to good use.”

“To good use? She would donate it all or fund cancer research. Look at us Lex. We’re doing  _ real  _ things.” 

“That's the thing about Lena,” Lex starts. “She doesn’t obsess and that is what causes her to excel. She will never be blindsided because she pays attention to everything.” Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Lillian roll hers. “I know you don’t like her Mother, but she is my little sister and I have always been quite fond of her. You know that.” 

“Let's get to work.” Lillian says in monotone, ignoring whatever Lex is going on about.

Lex presses a button that removes the glass window between him and Kara. He clears his throat, grabbing a tape recorder. “Subject, fifteen years of age?” He looks up, unsure. 

“Fourteen. My birthday is next week, just like I told you yesterday, but if you want to get technical-” 

Lex shrugs, cutting her off. “Subject is fourteen years old. Looks a little pale today. We will be doing the extraction today.”

“Extraction?” 

“It shouldn’t hurt too much.” 

“Lex, stop encouraging her. Have you learned nothing? You shouldn’t even be letting her talk.” Lillian reprimands him. 

“It’s amusing, Mother. I have this handled. Why don’t you go prepare the lab?” 

Lillian nods and exits the room. 

“You know my family is looking for me, right?” 

“Your family?” Lex snorts. “Your family was killed when Krypton exploded. I’ve heard all about it from Superman.” 

“My family on Earth. The Danvers.” 

“Oh? Those humans?” Lex laughs. “If I can incapacitate a Kryptonian, the last thing I need to worry about is a human.” 

“They will fight for me.” 

“You talk a lot for someone who should be scared.” 

“You can’t let fear rule you.” 

“God, you’re kind of insufferable, you know that?” Lex says. “I’m turning on the kryptonite now.” 

Kara sighs, preparing herself for the pain. Lex turns on the kryptonite at the lowest setting causing Kara to wince. He stands up, a small needle in hand and pricks her thumb, smiling when the blood flows out. 

“Perfect. I’m going to be using some anesthesia now.” Lex says, more to himself than Kara. He places a mask over her face and begins hooking up an IV as Kara drifts off to sleep. 

Nearly an hour later, Kara is starting to wake up. She focuses on the talking in the other corner of the room to try not to drift off again. 

“Does it look promising, Mother?” 

“It does. They look healthy. We’re done with her now, we can move to Stage 2.” 

“Perfect. We’ll keep her alive and healthy just in case.”

“What did you do?” Kara manages weakly. There are footsteps and then Lex is standing over her, looking more evil than normal. 

“Don’t worry about it.” 

**_September 23rd, 2011_ **

“Shit.” 

“Don't swear, Lex. It solves nothing and you sound uneducated.” Lillian tells him. 

“We were breached two minutes ago.” Lex says, standing from his seat at the lab table and walking into the next room where his computers are. 

“Two minutes ago?” Lillian shouts. “Why didn't the alarm go off?”

“After the last time we were breached I took them down to fix them. I must have rewired it incorrectly.” 

“You imbecile! Get the girl.” 

Lex shakes his head. “No. Leave her. Get the stuff out of the freezer.” 

Lillian nods and does as she's asked and Kara watches from the corner, unable to move. “Are you sure you got what you needed from her?” 

“Enough to make a small army.” Lex laughs. “Let's go.”

At the press of a button the wall disappears to reveal a tunnel and before Kara can blink, Lillian and Lex are gone and the wall is back in place, the button nowhere to be found. 

Kara sits, still unable to move and unsure of what is happening. Just days before she remembers Lex mentioning a breach, but nothing ever came of it and she was beginning to lose hope. She had faith that her family would find her, maybe even before her birthday, but yesterday it came and went. 

Whatever this breach is was enough to make Lex and Lillian leave and although that is promising to Kara, having hope is just too disappointing. For all she knows, Lex has this building set up to self-destruct. She wouldn’t live through that. Not after the lack of exposure to the yellow sun and the repeated exposure to Kryptonite. She still has an IV in her arm. She would be done for. 

But maybe,  _ just maybe _ they found her. Maybe Jeremiah or Eliza or even Clark are here and maybe they will save her. Maybe today is the day. 

Kara sits back and waits. Eventually noises draw closer and despite knowing there's a chance that it's someone here to save her, she is still with fear. She had gone through hundreds of rounds of testing. Pokes, zaps, testing the limits of Kryptonite, and even whatever Lex meant by extraction. She feels hurt and violated and not even sure she is ready to live a normal life, whatever that is. 

She knows though that no matter what she can’t get comfortable because as soon as she does and as soon as her guard is down, her whole world will come crashing once again. 

That's just reality. 

\----- 

“Excuse me! Hey!” A voice calls from behind Lena. 

“Huh?” Lena turns around and her eyes land on the person flagging her down. “Yeah?” 

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” They ask. 

“Uh, I’m on my way to class. Can you walk with me?” Lena asks, confused as to who this person is and what they wanted with her. 

They smile and nod. “I just saw you back in the cafeteria and there's something a little mysterious about you. I just thought it would be cool to get to know you.” 

Lena isn’t really sure if that's a compliment, but she smirks anyway because it felt like one. Who doesnt like to be mysterious. “Get to know me?”

“Like maybe a date or something?”

Lena stops in a halt. Lots of people have tried to make friends with her, but this is a first. “Date? Do you know who I am?” She asks, too stunned to realize that she sounded like a complete asshole. Her cheeks burn red as soon as she plays it back in her head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude. But do you?” 

The person shrugs, shaking their head. “No. I’ve seen you around more than once though.” 

Lena extends her hand. “Lena Luthor.” 

Their mouth gapes as they take her hand and shake it. “Clarissa Holt. I don’t think my name is as notorious as yours though.” 

“You can walk away, I won't take offense to it.” Lena says. 

“You seem nice.” She shrugs, continuing to walk with Lena. 

“Doesn’t my last name scare you?” 

“I have only ever heard of you in the news for defying your family.” She responds, pulling the beanie off her head and allowing her long hair to freefall down her back. 

Lena swears her heart stops as she watches the girls hair frame her face perfectly. “Good point.” 

“So, what do you say? Can I take you out sometime?” 

“Uh, well, I am kind of busy with classes and stuff.” Lena tells her. 

“Right, yeah, you’re the only person I know on this campus with a Friday class. I have some clubs I’m a part of that meet today but other than that nothing.”

Lena nods. “Plus, I’ve never dated a girl before.” 

Clarissa raises her eyebrows. “That's shocking.” Lena questions her response for a minute but decides not to ask. “Well, Lena, if you ever change your mind here’s my number.” She hands her a piece of paper containing a phone number and turns away, winking ever so slightly.

Lena stops to watch the girl walk away and so she can allow herself to be entirely too confused for a moment. 

When she was still in boarding school there was an instance or two where she thought maybe she liked the way her classmate smiled too much, but she decided that was simply because she hadn’t dated and she didn’t have any exposure to boys her age at her all girl school. 

She might have been wrong. 

**September 22nd, 2012**

“Lena Luthor, the youngest CEO in the United States has officially gone through with the rebranding Luthor Corp. Tomorrow a ceremony will be held for the renaming of the company where we can expect Lena Luthor to announce her objectives to make Luthor Corp a quote on quote ‘force for good’. What do you think Pam? Is this legit?” 

Kara turns around when the TV clicks off and sees Eliza standing in the doorway holding a three month old Emmie in her arms. “Happy birthday, Kara!” She says in a hushed tone. “I made funfetti pancakes for you. They are in the kitchen!” 

“Thank you Eliza.” Kara says, forcing a smile. It's not that she isn’t appreciative of Eliza, she is, but her last birthday was spent being tortured by Lex Luthor and she's having a hard time feeling celebratory. 

Once in the kitchen, Eliza hands her a plate with pancakes covered with icing. “You know, it isn’t too late to throw you a birthday party. It's your sweet 16!” 

“That's okay, Eliza. I think I want to be alone.” Kara says. “Thank you though.” 

“I understand, dear. Alex is still coming home for the weekend.” 

Kara looks to Eliza, concerned. “Are you sure she's okay doing that for me? I know she struggles with the baby.” 

“You’re always looking out for everyone else. I love that about you.” Eliza tells her. “I talked to Alex. She's ready.” 

Kara nods, still worried about her older sister and how she will handle being home. It was hard for Alex to leave and allow Eliza to take care of Emmie, but being here wasn’t safe for her. After Emmie was first born, Kara listened to her sister cry herself to sleep night after night. Alex tried her hardest for Emmie, but the family as a whole ultimately decided that Alex needed some time away to heal and so that is what they did. 

When Kara returns home from school and sees Alex’s car in the driveway she feels an ounce of excitement for the first time all day. Her sister got her through some of the hardest times in her life even when she was going through some of her own hardest times. Kara can never thank Alex enough for that. 

“Alex!” Kara yells, bursting through the door and trying her absolute best to hold back her strength so she doesn’t crush her sister when she finds her. When she finally finds her and wraps her arms around her, Alex hugs back as tight as she can. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too, Kara.” Alex says. “Happy birthday.” 

“Are you okay?” Kara asks. 

Alex nods. “I held her without crying today.” She smiles. 

Kara grins back. That might just be the best birthday present she could ask for. It has been so painful for her to see Alex hurting so watching her begin to heal is all she could ever want. “I'm proud of you, Alex.” 

Alex looks to her younger sister, tears in her eyes. A year ago today Kara was being held captive by the world's most well known alien hater and today she is here telling her how proud she is of her? She has watched her sister overcome so much. She deserves those words more than anyone. “I’m proud of you, Kara.” 

  
  



	14. The Truth Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth that everyone has been waiting for is finally revealed.

“Miss Luthor?” J’onn says, approaching her. “I have some news. Would you like to hear it alone?” 

Lena looks to Kara and shakes her head no. Anything she could hear, Kara could too. 

J’onn nods. “Marley was exposed to a significant amount of Kryptonite. We know that this can be treated with yellow sun treatments, which we have already started, but we don't know how this will affect her in the long run.” 

“So she’ll be okay then?” Lena asks, trying to peak over J’onn’s shoulder into the room. Kara stands beside Lena looking solemnly. She was much older than Marley when she was exposed to Kryptonite for the first time. She can’t stand to know that Marley had to experience that too. 

“She will live. I’m sorry, but I can’t predict anything further than that.” J’onn says. “She's not conscious yet, but you can enter the room and sit with her until she is.” 

“Go ahead.” Kara tells Lena, waiting until the door closes behind her before looking back to J’onn. “Where is Lex?” 

“They’re working on that Supergirl.” 

“I want to go. I am going to go kill him.” She tells J’onn. 

J’onn shakes his head at Kara. “Supergirl, let the team handle it. Marley needs you.  _ Lena _ needs you.” 

Kara scoffs, catching a glimpse of Lena crouched by Marley’s bed and she immediately softens. She steps past J’onn and into the room. 

Lena stands, turning towards Kara, her eyes full of tears. “My baby.” She says, falling into Kara’s arms and breaking down. Kara cries too, holding Lena tightly, watching Marley’s chest rise and fall. 

“I’m so sorry.” Kara manages. She can’t help but feel like, in some way, this is her fault. If she would have fought back, not allowing Lex to steal from her body, if she would have worked harder to find out what Lex did with her DNA in the first place, if she just would have stayed hovering above Lena’s a little longer, none of this would have happened. 

Lena looks up at Kara and shakes her head. “You’re the reason I have her in the first place.” She says. “I don't care who else she came from. She's all you. Brave, smart,  _ and funny _ . Kara, she's so funny and I don't know how I didn’t see right away that she's the spitting image of you. She's here because of you and because of what  _ you  _ endured. She saved my life.  _ You  _ saved my life.”

Kara is ready to confess her love to Lena right then and there, despite knowing it probably isn’t the most appropriate timing to drop another bomb on her. Luckily, or unluckily depending how you view it, Kara is stopped in her tracks by Marley, whose eyes begin to flutter. 

“Mommy?” Her soft voice barely makes out. It's small and fragile and physically pains Kara to hear. 

Lena rushes to her side, dropping to her knees to make eye contact with her. “Mommy’s here, baby. I’m so sorry.” 

“Supergirl?” J’onn says, opening the door to the room. “We need you. Now.” Kara makes eye contact with Lena, ensuring that she will be okay and with Lena’s nod she rushes out of the room following J’onn. “Lex Luthor is in our agents custody, but they’re struggling. They will be making a landing in less than a minute.”

“Want me to finish him off?” Kara asks angrily. 

“We want him alive, Supergirl. Get up there, get him off the plane. We have injured agents, please let Agent Danvers take care of them.”

Kara nods, flying up to the top of the building, waiting for the small plane to land. When it does, she is more than ready to use her super strength to teach Lex Luthor a lesson. 

The plane lands and moments later the door opens. Kara rushes onto the plane, locating Lex, who is detained with hand and foot cuffs. He clearly gave them a hard time given the state the plane is in. 

“Supergirl. So we meet again. It's been a few years.” Lex says, smirking. 

Kara looks him in the eyes, not allowing the memories to flood back. “Never touch my child again.” Before anyone can stop her, she pulls her arm back and punches him in the face. Not hard enough to kill him, but hard enough to make him whimper just a little. She grabs him from behind and drags him into the building. 

“Supergirl?” J’onn says, once Kara enters the building. He follows her to the lockup area. “Did he give you a hard time?” 

“What?” Kara asks, throwing Lex Luthor into the cell and getting a little too much pleasure out of it. “Oh, the blood? Yeah. Something like that.”

J’onn let's it slide, not showing how pleased he is at the sight of Lex Luthor in a cell with blood streaming down his face. 

“I’m going to find Lena.” 

“Oh! Is Lena here? You should tell her to stop by to see her big brother.” Lex says, getting as close as he can to the glass. 

Kara turns towards the cell. “If you so much as  _ think  _ Lena’s name ever again, you won’t live through what I put you through.” Kara growls, turning away and heading back to medical. 

When she enters the room, Lena runs up to her, pulling her into a hug. “Oh, thank god. Is everything okay?”

Kara nods. “J’onn wanted me to get Lex off the plane.” 

Lena’s eyes widen. “Are  _ you  _ okay?” She asks, knowing very well that seeing Lex could potentially be triggering for Kara. 

Kara smirks and Lena returns the look with a confused one of her own. “I punched him.” Kara admits. 

Lena’s hands fly up to her mouth and she laughs a little. “And you didn’t even let me get a turn?”

Kara chuckles, not releasing Lena from her arms. She would stay like this forever if she could. 

“Can I talk to you outside?” Lena asks and Kara nods in response, leading the way. Once outside, Lena looks up at Kara. “There's a lot we need to discuss. Obviously.” Lena says, looking Kara in the eye and allowing the tension to build as to make her point. “Some of it will have to wait, but I do want to discuss Marley with you. I guess I’ll just be straight up. What kind of relationship do you want with her?”

“Isn’t that more for you to decide? I don't want to overstep and I don't want to make Marley uncomfortable by giving her another parent figure six years into her life.”

“I'm not saying that a child needs two parents in their life, but I do think it would benefit Marley to have someone like her to understand the things I don't.” Lena says. “I think, at the very least, I want Marley to know the truth. Where she came from and where  _ you  _ came from.” 

Kara nods. “I like that start. Maybe it's best to give her the option to choose where it goes after that.” 

“So then, as soon as she is out of this hospital bed, I think we should have a talk with her.” 

“And the other stuff?” Kara asks, hesitantly, biting her lip. 

Time could have stopped right there and Lena wouldn’t have noticed. “I think we both know that some things will have to wait for now.” Lena says, having a hard time taking her eyes away from Kara’s lips. She hates saying it, but she needs to prioritize her daughter. Besides, if there's any chance she and Kara aren’t on the same page about what it is they need to talk about, she would rather not make it awkward between them right now. 

Kara’s heart sinks a little, but she knows it's better off that way. Lena doesn’t need anything extra right now. She's waited this long, she’ll just have to wait a little longer. 

“Supergirl!” Alex’s voice calls as she approaches Lena and Kara. 

“I’ll let you guys talk.” Lena says, squeezing Kara’s shoulder and slipping back into the room. 

“I just got released from medical. I’m fine, just some bruises.” 

Kara pulls Alex into a hug. “Thank you so much for getting her.”

“She's my niece, even if she doesn’t know it.” Alex says. “I would have fought to the death for her, Kara.” 

Kara looks to Alex, tears falling down her face. “I know.” 

“Are you hungry?” Alex asks, knowing that Kara doesn’t answer ‘no’ to that question. 

“Yeah, but I should probably check with Lena. She hasn’t eaten.” Kara says. 

Alex shakes her head. “I’ll have J’onn make sure she's taken care of. Come eat with me. Just the two of us.”

Kara looks to Lena and then back at Alex and nods. 

The two of them find an empty conference room and make themselves comfortable with a large pizza and breadsticks that Winn had been sent out for an hour before. Normally Kara preferred to be in charge of getting food because she could fly to Italy and get a  _ real  _ pizza quicker than anyone else could get one from the nearest pizza parlor, but this time she decided she didn’t want to be any further from Lena and Marley than she had to be. 

“Lena requested a salad.” Alex laughs. “You’d think during a time like this she might splurge on a burger.” 

Kara giggles, smiling brightly to which Alex raises an eyebrow to. Nothing she said was  _ that  _ funny. “She says the vegetables give her energy. I find that hard to believe. She is pretty fit though, isn’t she? She works out too. Maybe there is something to her diet.” She rambles. 

“You're pretty close with Lena, aren’t you?” Alex asks, taking a large bite out of a slice of pepperoni.

“We got to know each other really well. She's a good person.” Kara tells Alex. 

Alex looks down, dreading the fact that she has to apologize to her sister and admit that she was wrong. “I got to know Lena a little bit. You know, when they were in protection?” Kara nods. “Everything I thought about her before was wrong. I was convinced she was using you. She's a lot more genuine than I realized.”

“I’m glad you can see that now.” 

“It must have been hard not seeing her for six months.” Alex says. “She seems like a great friend to you.” 

Kara scrunches her face up and looks away from her sister, cursing the fact that she is physically unable to lie to her. “What?” Alex asks. “Kara? What did you do?” 

“Ahh, okay. Promise you won't be mad?” Alex squints her eyes and Kara stuffs her mouth with food hoping it will give her time to somehow distract Alex. It doesn’t. “I might have located Lena using her heartbeat while she was in protection and went to see her, but it's okay now because Lex is in custody and Lena and Marley are safe. No real harm done, right?” Kara attempts a half smile at Alex to soften the blow, but Alex might as well have smoke coming out of her ears. 

“You did what?” She asks. “Do you realize the danger you could have put them in? The danger you could have put yourself in?” Alex nearly shouts. “Kara, what is wrong with you? You went directly against the DEO’s orders to not find them. Do you realize what could happen if J’onn finds out? He could be forced to terminate the DEO’s contract with Supergirl! Especially if Lena finds out Kara Danvers is Supergirl!” 

Kara scrunches her face up once again. “She already does.” She spits out, choosing to just rip off the band-aid instead of beating around the bush. “But J’onn already knows and he isn’t mad so you don’t have to be mad either. She was going to find out eventually! We share a child for Raosakes!” 

Alex rubs her forehead, processing the information and an idea pops into Kara’s head. Months ago, Maggie was pushing Kara to go to Alex for help about Lena. She never did because a million other things happened that needed to be prioritized over Kara’s feelings. As much as she doesn’t really want to discuss this with Alex, or anyone really, she's kind of tired of being perpetually confused. Besides, she's already dropping all of her other bombs on Alex right now, so might as well finish her off. “One more thing?” Kara asks hesitantly. 

By the look on Alex’s face you would think she is physically in pain and she might as well be with everything she is learning right now. It would probably be easier to handle. “What?” She finally musters, bracing herself for whatever it is her little sister has to say. 

Kara breathes in deeply, allowing all of her words to tumble out in one breath. “Okay, I’m really nervous to tell you this but I am pretty sure, and I say ‘pretty sure’ because I’ve never experienced this feeling before so I guess I could be wrong about it. But anyway, like I was saying before, I am pretty sure I might have somehow caught feelings for Lena. Like, love feelings. I don't know. It's hard to tell because, like i said, I’ve never been in love, but like, I don't know, I think I might be. You know? It's just a weird feeling that I have never had before but I really like it and yeah. So, that's what I wanted to tell you.” 

Alex’s eyes go wide as she attempts to translate and process Kara’s word vomit. “Like you’re  _ in  _ love with Lena?” She asks, unsure if that was what her sister was trying to get at. Kara nods and Alex is silent, just staring before she finally comes up with something to say. “Since when are you gay?” 

Kara laughs, mostly because she had been wondering that same thing since she finally sorted out her feelings for Lena. “I don't know.” She shrugs. “I guess between everything I experienced growing up, I never really had time to think about it. Eliza says she expected it though because on Krypton sexuality didn’t exist. You liked who you liked, you know?”

“Mom knows?” Alex gapes. 

“Uh, yeah. I kind of went to her for advice a few times. Maggie too.”

“Are you kidding me, Kara? Am I the last to know?” Alex nearly yells, not out of anger, just out of pure shock. 

“Well, no.” Kara says. “Lena doesn’t know. That's kind of the problem.” 

“Do you know if Lena feels the same way?” Alex asks.

Kara shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, sometimes she looks at me a certain way and there's so much tension that I could just-” 

“Okay! Okay!” Alex shouts, really not wanting to hear whatever was going to come out of Kara’s mouth next. “All those gifts? And the lunch she would always bring you? I don't know, Kara. She's either a really generous rich person or she feels the same way.” 

“That's the thing. She  _ is  _ a really generous rich person. I just can’t tell if she's doing those things for me because she's generous or because she likes me. She wants me in Marley’s life though. She told me that earlier.” 

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way? What about Marley?” Alex asks. 

“Then I put my feelings aside. I think Marley needs me in her life, especially as she gets older. That's more important than my crush, isn’t it?” 

“Yes.” Alex responds. “Don't call it a crush, you sound like a middle schooler.” 

“That's what I feel like.” Kara sighs. “I can’t ever get her out of my head. All I do is think about how I can make Lena’s day better, or what I will say to her when I see her next, or the way her eyes sparkle when she looks at me, or the way she used to make me blush when she would drop Marley off at school.” 

“You’ve got it bad, sis.” Alex fake gags. She stands up from her chair to stretch and walks over to the other side of the table to sit next to Kara. “You know, I really don’t know how I didn’t see it in the first place. I was so caught up in Lena’s last name that I couldn't even tell how head over heels you were for her!” 

“Pfft, what do you mean? It's not noticeable. It was never noticeable!” Kara argues. 

“Not noticeable? I could sit here and write a book about all of the things I should have noticed! A trilogy if I got quotes from other people!” Alex teases. 

Kara rolls her eyes, not really minding her sister poking fun at her. It feels good to tell her and to finally have her on her side when it comes to Lena. “So what do I do?”

“You tell her.” Alex says simply. 

“I tell her?” Kara asks, looking horrified. “What do you mean, I tell her? When do I tell her? What if she isn’t ready to hear it? What if she doesn’t feel the same way?” 

“I know the situation is complicated, Kara, but that doesn’t change the fact that you're better off with her knowing no matter what the outcome is. If she doesn’t feel the same way, you get a head start on getting through that awkwardness so you can have a relationship with Marley. If she does feel the same way, you guys will figure it out. Just trust yourself.” 

She knows Alex is right. The best thing she can do is to be honest with Lena. She will wait until after they tell Marley the truth about her relationship with Kara, but she won't wait longer than that. The sooner she does this the better. 

\--- 

Days pass and Marley was finally cleared by the doctors to go home. It took the DEO a while to ensure that home would be safe for Lena and Marley with Lillian still lurking around and Lex refusing to give up his mother's location, but eventually after many security measures were enforced and Kara gave herself the job of monitoring Lena’s building, J’onn approved and they could finally return to the place they had called home for the last six years. 

“I missed my room and my toys.” Marley grins, hugging as many of her stuffed animals at a time as she could. 

Lena crouches down, scooping her daughter onto her lap. She has always been affectionate towards Marley, but ever since she was rescued from Lex, she never wanted to stop holding her again. “I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure you never have to leave here again. Okay, Marley?” 

“Okay Mommy!” Marley replies, snuggling her head against Lena’s chest.

“All clear Lena!” She hears Kara shout from the balcony doors. 

“Who’s that?” Marley asks. 

“Um, just someone from the DEO.” Lena tells her. “Stay right here and play, okay?” Marley nods her head and Lena sets her back onto the floor, walking out of her room but leaving her door open. “Hey. You scared me.” Lena says, once finding Kara standing in the kitchen. 

“Sorry. I checked the building in and out five times. I think you're good, but I’ll check it every half hour.” Kara tells her. 

“As fantastic as you look in that Supergirl suit, can you change into your normal clothes? I want to talk with Marley before she goes to bed.” 

“Oh, right now?” Kara asks. She figured Lena would want to wait at least a few days before having this discussion.    
  


“I don't want her to go another day wondering.” Lena tells her. “Please?” 

“Yeah! Of course! I’ll go change.” Kara tells her. “Uh, where is the bathroom?”

“That's right, you’ve never been here! Well, maybe once Marley goes to bed I can give you a proper tour.” Lena suggests, leading Kara to the bathroom away from Marley’s room. Kara nods as she enters the room to change her clothes and despite the fact that Lena knows very well that Kara Danvers is in fact Supergirl, she is still shocked at the speed that Kara was able to do so. “Wow.” Lena says, when Kara exits the bathroom before she can even make it down the hallway. Lena leads her back to the living room, making sure she knows to make herself comfortable on the couch and heads to Marley’s room to retrieve her. 

Moments later, Lena returns to the living room with Marley. “Miss K!” Marley screams, running full speed at her and jumping into her arms. If anyone other than Lena and Kara would have seen it, they would have questioned how the full speed of a six year old was at least equivalent to an average adult. “I missed you so much!” 

“Oh, Marley.” Kara says, hugging the child back. “I missed you too. I’m so glad to see you again.” 

“Mommy, why is Miss K here? Do I get to go back to school?” 

Lena sits down on the couch, grabbing Marley’s hand to hold it. “Not yet, baby. Miss K and I would like to discuss something with you. Is that okay?” Marley nods. “Marley, you know Supergirl, right?”

“Yes, that's you.” Marley says, pointing up at Kara.

Lena and Kara share the same shocked look. “What?” Kara asks. 

“You are Supergirl, Miss K. I already knew that.” 

“Marley, how on Earth did you know that?” Lena asks. She was not expecting the conversation to go like this at all. 

“I saw you on TV.” Marley shrugs. 

“I- Well, okay, I guess.” Kara looks to Lena, really unsure of what to say next. 

After a few seconds of confused silence Lena finally talks again. “Marley, first I want to make sure you know that you can’t tell anyone that Miss K is Supergirl. You understand that right?” 

“I didn't tell you.” Marley points out. 

“Okay. Fair enough.” Lena says, pinching her temple and laughing at her child. “There's something else we want to talk about as well.” Lena notices Kara’s face which is noticeably nervous and flushed white. Before she begins, she reaches out and squeezes her hand and that's all the comfort Kara needs to be confident in the conversation. “Marley, you know how we were going to the doctors because you had some things about you that were different from everyone else?” Lena asks. 

“Yes, my powers Mommy!” Marley smiles. It warms Kara’s heart to see her be so proud of them and it makes her even happier that Lena fostered an environment where she didn’t have to feel ashamed. It's not that the Danver’s did, but there was a big emphasis on  _ acting  _ normal at school and in public that Marley has never had to worry about. 

“And you know how Kara has those powers too, since she's Supergirl?” Lena asks and Marley responds with a nod. “Remember how I told you that you didn’t grow in my belly, but you grew in someone else's?” 

“Yes, Mommy.” Marley says, kicking her feet at the bottom of the couch. 

“The person that helped grow you was Kara.” Lena finally says. The relief the both of them feel is immediate. It's like a weight was lifted off their shoulders that neither of them ever even knew they had. 

Lena and Kara allow for silence for a few minutes, letting Marley process things in her head in whatever way she needed to. They had both agreed that they wouldn’t push Marley to respond a certain way and instead, they would explain things to her and allow her to react and have the feelings that she was feeling without fear of being reprimanded for them. 

“So then I have two mommies?” Marley asks, looking at Kara. 

“I- Uh-” Kara stutters, not really sure how to answer that. 

“Yes. You do.” Lena says for her. 

The fear that Kara had in the second between Lena’s words and Marley’s reaction might as well have been the scariest thing that she has ever dealt with, but it was over quick enough when a smile is plastered on Marley’s face and her arms are wrapped around Kara once again. “I asked for two Mommies when I found out that Emmie had two Mommies! I kept wishing for this when we were away and it worked!” Marley yells, now bouncing up and down. 

The three of them smile and share hugs and eventually after some of the excitement simmers down, Lena gets Marley to agree to go to bed on the condition that Kara would spend the day with them tomorrow as well.

“That went well.” Kara says, finally taking a moment to release the anxiety that had built up. 

“Extremely well.” Lena smiles. “I’m glad we did that.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Kara returns the smile. “Hey Lena?” 

“Hmm?” She asks, as she pours a glass of wine for herself. “I don't suppose you want any? It probably wouldn’t do much.” 

Kara shakes her head. “Darn alien DNA. There's this Alien bar I go to that sells alcohol from Daxam. It works, but the hangovers are terrible. I would still go for some of that right now.” She laughs. “I know you said you wanted to wait to talk about other things, but I kind of wanted to get something over with.” 

Lena sits on the couch, setting her wine glass down on the coffee table, and patting the cushion beside her. “Sure.” 

Kara gulps, sitting down beside Lena and really wishing she actually did have some of that Daxamite alcohol right about now. “You know, I was drawn to your presence in so many ways from the first time I even read your name on the parent sheet. I don't know why I worked so hard to get you to bring Marley to class, but I’m glad I did. I just feel like we share something so powerful between the two of us. I don't know if you feel it, but I do, and I just wanted to let you know.” 

“Wow, Kara. That was well said. You didn’t even stutter once.” Lena teases. 

Kara looks down to smile and dreads putting it back up, scared that eye contact may ruin everything. 

Luckily for her though, she doesn’t have to do anything because seconds later, Lena’s fingers are dancing softly on her chin and pulling her head up to meet hers. “I feel it.” She says simply, locking eyes with Kara and pulling her face close to hers. “I’ve always felt it.” 

Lena touches her lips to Kara’s softly and allows the passion to carry them like she has wanted to since the day she met her. 

That went better than Kara could have ever imagined. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg. Omg. I am so glad to finally be over this writers block and I am so excited to see what everyone thinks of this chapter! PLEASE LET ME KNOW!! <3


	15. Jessica Hoang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex works to get things done for Lena.

Not being able to go to work, or really leave the apartment in general had Lena going stir crazy. Even in Michigan she was able to go to work and take Marley to school. She so badly wanted to step into LCorp once again and feel the power she once felt behind her desk. Not the power like Lex had, but the power that allows her to change things for the better. 

There is also the fact that she misses the one person in National City that she hasn’t been able to contact yet; Jess. The DEO forbade her from making her presence known until they, at the very least, have eyes on Lillian Luthor. She hates that her evil mother is the only thing stopping her from reconnecting with one of the only people she considers to be her  _ real  _ family. 

She really hopes the DEO finds Lillian soon because not only does she need to get back to work, she also has been dying to work in her lab on a project for Kara. After Kara had mentioned to her that the only alcohol on the planet that works from her, not without severe side effects of course, is from Daxam, Lena decided she was going to get samples of it and modify it to make it side effect free for Kara. Not only would it be a fantastic gift, but the idea of drunk Kara is more than exciting for Lena. Besides, if all goes well, Lena could even market the product and ensure it is readily available for Aliens without them having to sneak around and go to special bars. Everyone should have the opportunity to stumble into the nearest drugstore to grab a cheap bottle of something to get drunk off of. In Lena’s eyes, that's equality. She thinks for a moment that most people probably aren’t bordering the fine line of healthy drinking and alcoholism like she is, though. Maybe if the DEO would let her out of the house she could get a therapist. 

Lena’s desire to get Kara drunk comes from the fact that she hasn’t been able to form a coherent sentence around Lena since they kissed. Of course, that isn’t exactly abnormal for Kara, but it's been days. She needs something to loosen her up so they can actually talk because although the kiss was nice, nothing too productive came from either of them to decide what the kiss meant. 

“Agent Danvers, I need to go to LCorp.” Lena says, upon opening the door for Alex. 

“Lena, we’ve talked about this. Lillian could be anywhere.” 

“Not at LCorp. Come on.” Lena whines. “I have things I need to do.” 

“I guess I could ask J’onn if you could go on the condition that Kara stays with you.” Alex suggests. 

“No!” Lena shouts, causing Alex to raise an eyebrow. “Some of the things I need to do pertain to Kara. She can’t be there.”

“It's not safe.” Alex tells her. “Don't you have any hobbies? Talents you can master?”

“My hobbies are working.” Lena says, glancing to the kitchen island and noticing a bag of cherries on it. “I do have a talent though, but I mastered it in boarding school.” She walks over to the counter, pulling the stem from the cherry and popping it into her mouth only to take it out seconds later in a perfect bow. “What was that? 4 seconds?”

Alex gapes at Lena, not really sure what the appropriate reaction is. “You do need to get out. We’ll figure out something.”

“What? You didn’t like my talent? I thought it was impressive.” Lena laughs. 

“I'm not going to say i'm  _ not  _ impressed, but you might be better off showing that one to Kara.” Alex snorts.

“Maybe if she would talk to me.” Lena retorts, not exactly annoyed, but longing for a conversation with Kara about what happened. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, I kissed her on the first night back and she hasn't been able to put a sentence together in front of me since!” 

“You kissed her?” Alex nearly yells, stopping herself mid sentence to avoid waking Marley up. 

“She didn’t tell you?” Lena asks and Alex shakes her head quickly, giving her a ‘give me information now’ look “Oops. Don't tell her I said anything.” 

“So you do like her!” Alex grins, sitting down at the stool connected to the island. 

“Yeah, I do.” She admits. It feels nice to say it out loud to someone when she's been in her head about it for months. “I always have, it just took me a while to figure it out. It came at me when I was least expecting it, but I guess it's supposed to, right?” 

Alex nods. “It always hits harder when you aren’t searching for it.” She pauses. “So what do you mean she can’t put together a sentence?” 

Lena sits beside Alex, rubbing her temples at the stress Kara has caused her over this for the last few days. “You know Kara. She rambles and stutters normally, right?” Alex nods. “Imagine that but multiplied by a hundred. I find it endearing most of the time, but I can't even get her to look me in the eye without turning red and leaving the room!”

“You have to remember that she has never dated anyone before.” Alex tells her. “I don't know how much she has told you so I won’t go into detail, but when she came here she was only 12. That's around the time most people start getting crushes, you know? But she was ostracized by her peers at that age. She was made fun of so much she was more worried about getting through a day at school without crying. By the time she kind of got over that, other things happened. I don't think she has ever recovered from that, but she is healing now. So maybe she is ready for a relationship but that doesn’t mean she has the first idea of how to handle one.” 

Lena sighs knowing she should have taken that into account in the first place. “You’re right. I just wish she would talk to me so that I could help it through that, you know?” 

“She will come around.” Alex assures her. “So what is the super secret project that pertains to Kara?” 

Lena studies her trying to decide if she should tell Alex what she is up to. “Kryptonian alcohol.” 

Alex laughs. “That's what you’re worried about? You’re Lena Luthor, you have the power to do  _ anything  _ and you are worried about Kryptonian alcohol?” 

Lena crosses her arms, shooting Alex a look. “Kara told me there's alcohol from Daxam that works, but has bad side effects. I want to alter it to her biology so she can drink it, maybe loosen up a bit, and not have to deal with a hangover!”

“That's what this is about?” Alex continues laughing. “You just want to get my little sister drunk for your own benefit!” 

“She mentioned wanting a drink! It's for her enjoyment, as well as mine.” 

Alex shakes her head. “That's wrong, Lena Luthor.” 

“Does that mean you won't get me some samples of the alcohol?” Lena asks. 

“I said it's wrong. That doesn’t mean I don’t approve.” Alex smirks. “I’ll get you some samples.” 

“And the lab at LCorp?” Lena begs. 

“I’ll see what I can do. No promises.” 

Alex leaves after doing a quick check of the apartment and leaving Lena with the groceries she brought her and Lena heads into the kitchen to put them away. She immediately finds a bag with two bottles of wine and silently thanks Alex, struggling to put the rest of her groceries away before pouring a glass. 

She pours a glass, and another glass, and another glass until the bottle is left with nothing but a drop at the bottom. Drinking straight from the bottle would have been more effective. Drunk on wine, Lena takes herself to bed, falling asleep almost instantly and dreaming of Kara. 

Kara enters the apartment bright and early the next morning with a box of donuts and two coffees in hand. She finds Marley on the couch watching TV. 

“Good morning, Marley. You’re up early.” She comments, setting the food down on the kitchen island. 

“Did you bring donuts?” Marley asks excitedly, jumping from the couch and racing over to the counter. “I love chocolate donuts!” 

“Good thing I got 12 of them!” Kara laughs, admiring how much of herself she sees in Marley. “Have as many as you want. Where is your mom?” 

“She's still asleep.” Marley tells her as she climbs onto the stool and takes a donut out of the box. “I didn’t want to bother her because I woke up before the sun.” 

“I wasn’t even up that early.” Kara comments, taking a donut for herself, kind of grateful Lena is still asleep. 

“I had a bad dream.” 

“Marley,” Kara says, trying to think of the words she needed to hear when she was in Marley’s situations. “You shouldn’t be afraid to go to your mom when you have a bad dream. She loves you and will always be there for you.” 

“I don't want to make her sad.” Marley states and Kara immediately sympathizes with her. It took her months to open up to Eliza because she could see the pain in her eyes whenever she did. She hated being the source of sadness for someone who cared about her so much and so she kept it locked inside until she physically couldn’t anymore. When Eliza noticed how much she was struggling, she did the most important thing a parent could do and got Kara a therapist. That's what Marley needs. She will have to talk to Lena and the DEO and have them help her find someone suitable for Marley’s needs. 

In the meantime, however, all she can do is be as much comfort for Marley as possible. “You know you can talk to me too, right?” She asks. “I understand how you are feeling.” 

Marley nods. “Okay, Miss K. I mean Kara.” She corrects herself. “I don't want to talk about it right now, though.” 

“That's okay.” Kara smiles. “Whenever you’re ready.” She tells her as Marley slips off the stool and makes her way to her bedroom. Kara sighs looking around the empty apartment and deciding to take her coffee to go. She rips a piece of paper off a notepad and begins writing a note. 

_ Goodmorning, Lena!  _

_ I brought coffee and donuts but it looks like you are still asleep. I’ll swing by later today to do another check. Enjoy!  _

_ Kara. _

_ P.S. don’t be so mean to yourself. Have a donut.  _

Kara leaves the coffee with the note on the counter and heads out the door, stopping to focus on any sounds that may be abnormal. When she doesn’t hear anything, she makes her way out of the building, feeling weird that she has to go teach, as if she hasn’t been doing it every weekday since last September. 

That's the thing though, ever since Lena was back in National City, it's been weird doing  _ anything _ except being right there by her side. It just feels wrong to Kara to go about her day like Lena and Marley aren’t inside that apartment by themselves just waiting for the time to pass.

Of course, ever since Lena and Marley left in the first place things were weird, but at least Kara didn’t exactly know what was going on. Ignorance truly is bliss. 

She does eventually make it to the school and begins teaching, putting her best effort forward to push Lena and Marley to the back of her head, but with the still empty desk in the middle of the room that Kara can’t seem to keep her eyes off of, it's impossible. 

That desk has been a symbol of longing, hope, and even dread since the last time Marley sat in it. Kara often found herself staring at it, imagining her daughter sitting in the seat giggling at something Emmie was doing next to her. Months later and nothing about her not being there seems right. It never will. 

It is a little comforting knowing that as soon as she leaves she can go see Marley, but she longs for the months before when Lena would stride into the classroom, hand and hand with Marley, looking so intimidating to Kara, smirking at her just to watch her face burn red. 

“Hi Aunt Kara.” Emmie’s voice from the classroom door breaks the silence and causes Kara’s head to snap away from Marley’s desk to her niece. 

“Hey, Em. Hey, Alex.” Kara says, forcing a smile. 

“Everything alright?” Alex asks her, taking Emmie’s backpack and hanging it on one of the hooks. 

Kara shrugs. “You know.” 

Alex nods, because she does. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard on you, having them so close, yet so far. We’re almost there, okay? They won’t have to hide forever.” 

“But won’t they?” Kara asks, forcing her voice into a whisper. “There will always be someone out to get them.” 

Kara is right. Lex has hundreds of followers willing to do his dirty work and while most of them aren’t nearly as cognitive as he is, they can at the very least, follow directions.

“They went years without any attacks on them. We can make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Alex assures her, walking behind her desk and hugging Kara. “Please don’t stress yourself out. We need you to be functional if we want to get them out of there anytime soon.” 

Kara sighs, “Okay. I’ll do my best.” 

“Thank you. I have to go to work now.” Alex says.

Alex kisses Emmie before leaving and walks out of the school, thanking the gods that her sister is a teacher and she can use her as a free babysitter to go to work early. She needs all the time she can get to meet the demands of Lena Luthor. 

Once to the DEO, Alex finds J’onn immediately, ready to approach him with a question that she is sure he will shut down. 

“Can we talk in conference room one?” Alex asks, not waiting for an answer, just going into the room and sitting down. Once he enters and shuts the door behind him, she clears her throat. “We need to figure something out for Lena.”

“Like how to find her homicidal mother?” J’onn asks. “We’re working on that, Agent Danvers.” 

“Well, yes, but something else too. She needs to be able to work in her lab.” 

J’onn raises an eyebrow, wondering if Alex could possibly be serious. “Her lab? At LCorp?” 

“I don't think she has any other labs that I know of.” Alex states. 

“She can’t go to LCorp and you know that, Agent Danvers. LCorp has thousands of people going in and out its doors each day. Lena being in that building would be a threat to herself and others.” 

“I talked to her this morning though. The labs are located underneath LCorp and it's accessible by car.” J’onn raises an eyebrow. “Meant for military access. I don't know, I didn’t ask.”

“There's still a potential risk for Lena being detected. Until we find Lillian Luthor, I have to say no.”    
  


“But wait! Lena has a private lab that only she can access. Nobody can get in or out without her. She would be safe in the lab and if we have one of her most trusted workers sign some things, they can ensure that nothing has been breached. If anything has, they would let us know.”

J’onn lowers his eyes skeptically. “Agent Danvers, why does Lena need access to a lab so badly? And why are you so adamant? Safety must come first, you know that.” 

Alex ignores the first part of the question, not caring to explain. It's not really about the Kryptonian alcohol. She wants Lena to have a sense of normalcy during a time like this. She remembers how tough it was on Eliza and Jeremiah when Kara was kidnapped by Lex, and she knows firsthand what an angry parent will do to get justice for their child. She’s seen it and it's the reason her father is no longer with them. She doesn’t want Lena going crazy and obsessing over finding Lex, or in her case Lillian, herself. “I will ensure it is safe.” 

J’onn sighs. “I want the building to go through a 10 point safety check before you even let her out of her apartment. I also want her most trusted employee in here to sign non-disclosure agreements with  _ me _ , not with anyone else and I want this to all be discreet. The first sign of gossip that Lena is in National City, this gets shut down and Lena and Marley must be put in a new, safe location. Am I understood?” 

Alex nods. “Thank you director.” 

She exits the conference room, pleased with herself. She didn’t expect J’onn to budge that easily on this. In fact, she was expecting J’onn to shut her down immediately and because of that she already had plans b,c, and d worked out to help Lena. Alex is almost disappointed that she can’t use them because she's not going to lie, they were pretty good. 

After Alex gets the paperwork ready to be signed when she returns, she heads down to grab an FBI badge that will allow her access to Lena’s building, but not expose the DEO. “Hey Lena?” Alex says after Lena picks up her phone call. “It's a go. Do you want to be here when I arrive with her?” 

There's a muffled yes on the other side of the phone and Lena looks to another agent and asks them to get a car and driver ready. “No problem, someone will be there in 10.” 

“Agent Danvers, what are we doing?” 

“Retrieving Lena and Marley Luthor and bringing them back here. That's all.” The other agent nods and Alex leaves the DEO to head to LCorp.  _ Jessica Hoang _ is who she is looking for. Lena says she should be easy to find as she is  _ easily  _ the most important person in the building. Alex asked if she was sure, because the acting CEO is Samantha Arias, but Lena shut her up pretty quickly so she didn’t dare ask again. 

She arrives at LCorp and shows her badge to security. “Do you have a warrant?” 

“No. I’m FBI and I need to get in to find someone.” 

“Not without a warrant.” They repeat. “Sorry, company policy.” 

Alex wishes she could retort with something along the lines of “Oh yeah? I have permission from  _ Lena Luthor. _ ” But obviously that is out of the question. “I have a meeting with a, uh, Jessica Hoang.” 

The security guard looks at Alex skeptically, clearly not believing her but picking up the phone and dialing a number anyway. “Ms. Hoang? I have a-” He motions for Alex to show her badge again. “Agent Alex Danvers, with the FBI here saying she has a meeting with you.” There's a pause and Alex holds her breath. “Are you sure? Okay, I’ll send her up.” He looks at Alex and groans before hanging up the phone. “You will find her on the top floor.” 

Alex smirks, heading into the lobby and to the elevators. Almost too easy, although most places will let you do just about anything after flashing an FBI badge. 

She finds a woman waiting anxiously by the elevator doors. “Jessica Hoang?” She asks. 

“Yes. Is this about Lena?” 

Alex shushes her, stepping out of the elevator. “Is there somewhere private we can go?” Jess nods and leads her to a room, shutting the door behind them. “Do you have an ID or work badge? Sorry, it's protocol. Have to ensure it's you.” 

Jess pulls out a badge with her photo and name. “You can just call me Jess. What's going on?” 

“I can’t go into too much detail, but we need your help with something. Would you be willing to sign some non-disclosure agreements that would allow you to help us?” 

“Is it for Lena?” Jess asks, and Alex nods. “Then yes. I would do anything for her.”

“I’m going to need you to come with me. Is it possible you can leave work?” 

“Lena made me hire an assistant for myself. I basically sit around all day and do nothing.” Jess chuckles slightly, but Alex can see pain in her eyes. If she knew her better, she might ask about it. 

Once in the car, Jess sits uncomfortably, not really sure of what to say. “So where are we going?” 

“I really can’t disclose anything until the NDA’s are signed. I can tell you that I am a part of the government agency, but that's about it until I get you set up with my boss.” 

“Can you tell me anything about Lena?” 

“Uh,” Alex thinks. She can’t say that Lena will be at the DEO because she can’t disclose the fact that she is in National City until the NDA’s are signed, she can’t tell her where she was because that would also require an NDA. She pretty much can’t say anything. “Lena is safe. You can know more later.”

The ride is mostly silent the rest of the way. Jess knew she couldn't ask much and Alex knew she couldn’t say much so it's just easier that way. 

When they are about 3 minutes from the DEO headquarters, Alex calls J’onn. “Director, we are almost there. Have things ready.” She tells him, hanging up the phone and feeling all too powerful. It's rare she is completely in charge of a project, especially over J’onn. Even if this is pretty miniscule, it does feel good. 

Alex watches as Jess sees the DEO for the first time as they drive the car into the garage. Her eyes widen in confusion and wonder. “I had no idea this building was for the FBI. I drive by it everyday!” 

“I guess now that you’re here, it's not worth lying. You either sign the NDA’s or they lock you in a cell. Either way, you aren't telling people about it.” Alex shrugs, ignoring the look on Jess’ face. “This is the DEO. Department of Extranormal Operations. We handle all things alien.” 

Jess gapes, following Alex through the security systems. “What does that have to do with Lena?” 

“Sorry, but that's not really for me to tell.” Alex says. “Just follow me, we will be heading down to a conference room to sign the non-disclosure agreements with my boss before we do anything else.” Jess nods, continuing to follow her, making an attempt to take in everything she can. The vast amount of screens and technology in general are beyond what any normal person will ever see. “Right in here.” 

J’onn stands up, extending his hand to Jess. “Director Henshaw.” He says. “You must be Jessica Hoang.” 

Jess returns the handshake. “Just Jess. Nice to meet you Director Henshaw.” 

J’onn nods, returning the gesture. “Jess, we appreciate your help with what Agent Danvers is putting together. I’m assuming she hasn’t mentioned the details, but as we go through these non-disclosure agreements we will ensure you have a good understanding of what is going on. Is that okay?” 

“That sounds great.” Jess replies, looking anxiously to the folders J’onn has in front of her. 

Alex urges Jess to take a seat, and when she does, Alex sits beside her. 

“So, as Agent Danvers may have explained, this building is the Department of Extranormal Operations.” J’onn starts, going on to explain the DEO for the next twenty minutes. He gives her a brief history on how it originally started as a way to control aliens and protect humans from them, but has slowly evolved into an organization that still handles alien crime, but also prioritizes keeping aliens safe as well. He then moves onto explaining the workings of the DEO and what they specialize in and how they use alien technology to help people not hurt people. 

After an in-depth explanation of the DEO, J’onn moves on to explain the NDA regarding the DEO and what is involved, ensuring Jess has an understanding before signing, even offering a lawyer before putting pen to paper. Jess signs the NDA, not seeing it necessary to involve a lawyer.

J’onn gives a nod to Alex, signaling to her to bring in Lena after deciding that anything further is best to be explained by Lena herself, as to not cross a line. 

When Alex finds Lena and tells her it's time, Lena’s stomach turns. She has no reason to be particularly anxious about seeing Jess, but the nerves are almost purely out of excitement, although there are a few that are lingering about having to explain the situation. She sees Jess through the crack of the door before Jess sees her and she doesn’t even try to stop herself from running into the room to get to her. Typically, she probably wouldn’t allow herself to look so unprofessional, but this situation calls for it. 

“Lena?” Jess gasps, standing up and falling into a hug. Tears fall and a long hug is shared before either of them even consider sitting down beside each other to talk. “Where have you been?” 

Lena wipes her tears, sniffling a bit. “I guess it's time you hear the story, isn’t it?” Lena tells her everything, just like she wished she could have done months ago before they even left, but couldn’t because it was a risk to her safety. She explains how she found out that Lex created Marley as an experiment, using his own DNA and Kryptonian DNA, making Marley part Kryptonian. She tells her about how she found out about the risk that would have been staying in National City, and living in Michigan, and tearfully telling her about Marley being taken by Lex and the retrieval of her. It isn't easy for Lena to relive the past few months, but Jess is her family and deserves to know. 

“Oh, Lena.” Jess says, brokenhearted. “While I was here doing nothing, you were going through so much.” 

“You weren’t doing nothing.” Lena says. “I'm sure you were single handedly keeping my company afloat, and you should expect a huge bonus when I can return back to work.” 

“My bonus is knowing you and Marley are okay. Marley is here, isn’t she?” 

Lena nods. “She's dying to see you. You're her Aunt Jess. She misses you.” 

“Let's get the rest of this signed and we can give everyone some time to reconnect, okay?” J’onn suggests and Lena and Jess agree. They get everything signed and Alex and Lena explain their plan for Lena to use the lab, leaving out the details as to why she is using the lab. “I do have one condition, Miss Luthor.” 

Lena looks to J’onn. “And that is?” 

“I have some data that has been filed away because nothing ever came out of it. As long as you are working in your lab, I would like to give you access to it, on the condition that you sign a contract with the DEO.” 

Lena smirks, “Are you asking me to work for you, Director?”    
  


“Something like that.” He smiles back. “I can’t sit back and ignore your genius, Miss Luthor. I want to put it to good use.” 

“Get that contract ready for me to read through.” J’onn nods, exiting the room to do just that. Alex leads them back to where Marley is watching a movie. 

“I didn't tell her we were seeing you today.” Lena says. “Didn't want to get her hopes up if things turned out poorly. She's been through a lot.”

Just looking at Marley laying on the couch and watching a movie was enough to have Jess in tears thinking about Marley being hurt. “My baby.” 

“Go see her. She needs you.” Lena pushes and Jess walks into the room. Lena stays outside to let them have their moment, but observes from the window. It's a magical moment when Marley turns around and sees Jess, and Lena has a hard time caring that her $2000 Macbook crashes to the floor as Marley jumps up, throwing everything off of her in the process. Their hug is magnetic and Marley clings to her tightly. 

In that moment, Lena wonders why she spent years feeling bad that Marley didn’t have a family when they had been surrounded by Jess’ love the entire time.

  
  



End file.
